Always & Forever
by CCS
Summary: What happens when a emeraldeyed girl falls into the room of a coldhearted prince... how will she get home and will she be able to change the prince for the better... or for the worst
1. Falling from the sky

Hey everyone, I've finally redid the first two chapters so that people can actually understand and read. Umm… This is my first fanfic – so be nice! Hope you like it!

Disclaimer: I do NOT own CCS, never did, never will.

Always & Forever

"I'm warning you," Agnes Oldie told the girl with emerald eyes and short honey hair that was in front of him. Kinomoto Sakura's eyebrows rose in surprise. Sakura was 17 years old, her soft honey colored hair was short, her bright emerald eyes captured everyone's attention; at times they were anxious, full of surprise and amazement - and at other times, very serious. And her smile - it would make a dying person feel happy.

Sakura and Agnes were in his apartment standing out on his balcony because it was a beautiful night. Agnes had silver hair and small beady little eyes. He was also extremely tall and skinny and utterly ugly. He had asked her to come over - that it was important. At first Sakura didn't want to come, she and her ex-boyfriend didn't get along very well since they broke up, and it was also very late at night. Sakura lived with her father, Fujitaka and her brother, Touya. Sakura really didn't want to go, but she thought his voice sounded - strange, and despite the fact she disliked him a great deal, she still didn't want him to be hurt; she was scared something was terribly wrong.

When she got to his place, they had started talking. She was in shock when he told her he wanted her back. Her shock quickly turned to anger; they hadn't even been going out for a long time when she broke up with him. How could I have gone out with him? She thought in grotesque.

"Oh really?" She told him. "What are you going to do? Push me off your balcony?" The next thing she knew, she was falling 20 floors off his balcony.

Li Syaoran stood in his room exhausted. He always knew being King of the Li kingdom was a tough job, but there was no document saying that he had to go dancing parties every night. He sighed; he couldn't remember the last time he danced so much. He changed into a comfortable pair of breeches and a cotton tunic. Any passing stranger would have never guessed he was the ruler of his own kingdom.

He was well built from all the years of training in combat. His messy brown hair falling into his fiery amber eyes, his amber eyes - sometimes looking like chocolate brown - showed coldness. His father had died when he was younger, and his mother had always been treating him coldly, making him train and train. He grew up alone, isolated from everyone. Both of his parents were good-looking, he had also developed his own handsome-ness. He hated the way all the girls in their big puffy dresses stared dreamily at him, or try to get him to go out on a date. They were all lovesick.

He stood by his window and looked out at the stars. Although he gave off this arrogant picture of himself, he was different than others. He appreciated things no one else would, like staring at the stars, watching the sunrise or sunset, or the beauty of an autumn day with the colored leaves blowing softly with the wind. The stars shone brightly and suddenly one of them seemed to be shooting off somewhere. He straightened and focused more harder, not believing what he saw. No one has ever seen a shooting star - it was impossible. He tried to figure out and make sense of what he saw. He felt a sudden burst of power, which made him take a step back, but before he could say or do anything.

His room door burst open and a warrior stepped in, holding a sword - ready to attack him. Syaoran stared in shock for a moment then finally realized what was going on and reached for his own sword and both warriors squared off at each other. The other man raised his sword, yelled out in fury and was about to attack when the most unusual thing happened. A girl fell from Syaoran's ceiling and she fell right on top of Syaoran's opponent.

AN: So, what'd you think? Interesting enough for you to read the next chapter? Please R&R I welcome all comments!


	2. New and old faces

AN: Yes, here's the edited chapter 2. I hope you can enjoy this more now.

Disclaimer: I do not own CCS, CLAMP does

Always & Forever

Sakura braced herself for a very tough fall, but instead of meeting hard concrete, she fell on something else - or someone else. She knew she was awake but didn't feel like opening her eyes. Although her fall wasn't met with concrete, her entire body still ached. She slowly opened her eyes, and she shut them again because of the blinding light. Then she realized she must have fallen on someone and her eyes flew open and she sat up.

She looked down and found a man lying next to her unconscious. Scared, she just sat there - paralyzed. What have I done? She thought wildly, not noticing her surroundings.

Syaoran looked at the young woman; she seemed to be in shock. He couldn't help but notice her beautiful features and the clothes she was wearing. He felt a great deal of power come off her and he thought maybe she was an enemy as well, why else would this strange girl suddenly drop from nowhere and dressed so - so different. He studied her clothes a bit more. She wore on a long sleeve blue shirt; her collar was white with a strip of blue, same at the end of her sleeves, it was white with a strip of blue. She also wore a pink skirt with socks and black shoes. This was highly unusual for a girl to be wearing that. Never in all the kingdoms have I seen a girl wear that before. Syaoran thought. He wondered again if she could be the enemy, but when he saw her concerned emerald green eyes bright with tears, he knew he was wrong. He said nothing, just stared and waited till she saw him

Sakura finally convinced herself that the person next to her would be ok. She then realized something else - where she was. She was supposed to be dead on a dark alley, and yet strangely enough she wasn't. She looked around and found herself in a very stylish yet comfortable room filled only with the color green. Her curious eyes searched silently around the room.

There was a huge bed covered with layer after layer with green blankets, a large canopy over it that had sheer green curtains falling to the side; next to it was a night table. There was also a fireplace in the room; beside it was a huge dark green armchair that added to the comfy atmosphere. (AN: Hehehehe - what a coincidence, everything's green.) Her eyes traveled the room until she saw a young man standing and staring intently at her. She noticed the clothes he was wearing and noticed something was wrong. Where am I? She thought, tears filled her eyes once more.

"Who are you?" Syaoran asked, his voice coming out much harsher than he thought. Their eyes locked and they both stared at each other, she remained quiet for a moment, then bringing herself back into reality, answered him.

"Kinomoto Sakura," she replied softly, her eyes never leaving his. She started to get up, but winced in pain and fell back down. She bent her head so her bangs covered her eyes as a tear slowly came down her face. Syaoran moved forward almost immediately and held out his hand to her. She looked up at him, a look of surprise on her face. She gave him a smile before accepting his hand. At the touch of her hand - something strange happened which neither one of them could explain. It seemed as if they had known each other, as if they had met before. He realized he was smiling back self- consciously at her and quickly returned the frown that was there before. After helping her up and making sure she was able to stand up on her own, he moved away.

Sakura looked at the stranger in front of her. "Arigatou," She told him politely, but he remained silent. He didn't seem so tall now that she was standing up, and she couldn't figure out why he was staring at her so seriously with a frown on his face. He had spoken to her so harshly, yet he was very kind to help her up. She swallowed and looked around once more, afraid to say or do anything. She finally built up the courage to talk to him. "Do you know where I am?" She asked, her voice shaking a bit. The look on his face didn't change.

"You're in my room," he replied to her. She felt a smile grow on her face, and saw the look of confusion on the young man's face who was standing across from her.

"I know I'm in a room," she told him, and she saw his eyes widen a bit. (Well duh!) Syaoran felt a slight blush creep across his face, calling himself a baka as he looked away. She tried to cover it up, seeing that he felt uncomfortable. "You've got a very nice room. It's very.green." He looked up at her and gave her another little smile that she returned brightly.

"You're in the Li Kingdom," he told her this time. She still looked confused. "You aren't from around here, are you?" he asked her. (AN: Once again, well duh!) She shook her head, her soft light hair moving back and forth across her delicate face. "I could tell. Your clothes, where did you get your clothes? They're so unusual for a girl to be wearing them." She looked at him in shock.

"Hoe?" she said, startled. "But, everyone else wears them. I didn't know." She looked very uncomfortable, so Syaoran changed the subject.

"How did you get in my room?" he asked her again.

"I don't know. One minute I'm falling hundred of feet from the air, the next minute I've landed on top of that poor helpless man over there," she said, pointing to he man lying on the floor. Syaoran smirked and Sakura looked at him.

" 'Poor helpless man?' " He asked in shock. "That 'poor helpless man' was trying to kill me!" Sakura felt her eyes widen and she gasped in shock. She noticed that he was staring at her accusingly.

"Hoe?" She said again. "Are you saying I'm trying to kill you too?" She gasped again.

"Are you?" He asked her, staring at her intensively.

"Am I? I don't even know who that person is!" She replied, taken back. "I don't know where I am, or who you are! Why would I be trying to kill you? I've never killed anyone in my whole life, I don't even like fighting!" Syaoran sighed heavily. She didn't seem to be the type, seeing the scared expression on her face. Both of them heard a racket and he self- consciously moved in front of her, sword in hand, ready to protect her and himself from whoever it was that was coming.

Suddenly, the man on the floor got up and both Sakura and Syaoran turned their heads at the man. He made a grab for Sakura, but Syaoran raised his sword and brought it down without hesitation. The man screamed as a bright light filled the room. Syaoran grabbed Sakura and as he did, both of them tripped and fell down.

The bright light faded away, and Sakura opened her eyes to reveal Syaoran on top of her. Syaoran opened his eyes, that were shut tightly as well, and saw two emerald orbs staring at up at him. Both of them blushed slightly, but not making any move to get up. Suddenly three people suddenly barged inside the room and stopped in a halt. They stared at the two young people with shock. Syaoran scrambled off of Sakura and stood up. He looked down, a deep red blush creeping up his face. He remembered Sakura was still on the floor and once again reached out his hand to help her up. She accepted it, just as before and stood up, standing close next to him. He took a little step away from her, but she didn't seem to notice it at all.

Sakura looked closely at all three people standing in front of them. There was a young man with dark hair and sapphire eyes and glasses, a girl with straight, long black hair that was in pigtails with surprised red eyes, and a girl with matching violet eyes and long wavy violet hair. Sakura stared closely at the last girl with violet eyes.I know you, she thought, no, it couldn't be. The girl did remember her as well. She walked up to Sakura, her face full of surprise, then happiness.

"Sakura?" She asked. Sakura stared at the girl in front of her and smiled.

"Hoooeeee! Tomoyo!" Sakura yelled out as she practically jumped on her friend giving her a hug. She moved away, Sakura relieved to see someone she knew. "Tomoyo, it's so good to see you! I've missed you so much!"

"And it is good to see you," she returned. "Sakura, how on earth did you get here?" She asked, very curious as to how her friend found out about this place. Sakura gave Tomoyo a very sympathetic look, and started pouting.

"Oh Tomoyo, I really don't know how I got here! I don't even know where I am! And how did you get here?" She told her, starting to panic once more. Tomoyo started at her for a second, a thoughtful look on her face, and then she shook her head.

"I am sorry, Sakura, but we must talk later," Tomoyo replied to her. The boy with sapphire eyes and glasses nodded in agreement.

"Tomoyo is right, we don't have no time to talk right now." He said, then turned towards Syaoran. "What happened here?" He asked, the amusement in his eyes clearly visible. Syaoran started scratching his head and looked a bit nervous, once again a slight blush creeping slowly across his face. He then looked around for the man, but it seemed as if he had just disappeared. Sakura looked around as well for the man that had earlier tried to attack Syaoran and recently try to attack her.

"I was attacked by someone," he replied, gaining back his coolness, "and before we could do anything, this girl fell on top of him." He told the three people in front of him, pointing to Sakura. Sakura blushed and looked down.

"I - I - I really didn't mean to," she stuttered, "it - was an accident." Tomoyo smiled and patted her shoulder.

"Don't worry Sakura," she told her, "Ii desu." Sakura smiled back uncertainly at her.

"Well, if I were here," the girl with pigtails started but got cut off.

"Then he tried to attack her, and I killed him. But when I did, there was this blinding light and now he's nowhere to be found," Syaoran told them. "I don't know who he is and I'm almost positive he wasn't going to say anything. I think I might know who sent him as well." He paused and left out the part where he tried to protect Sakura and ended up on top of her (AN: Gee, I wonder why smirks Oh no! Eriol is getting to me! So not only am I just as evil as him, I'm smirking like him too!). "Listen, we better get out of here. There might be more men coming, and I don't want anyone in the castle to get injured." Everyone nodded except for Sakura, who just stared at him. He saw her looking at him and looked away, turning slightly red for the third time. Sakura looked away too, herself turning red. The girl with pigtails saw them and fumed and was about to comment when she got interrupted.

"Ok, come on everyone, I know exactly where to go," said the boy with glasses said quickly, he too saw the two young people blush and the angry look on girl with pigtails face. He turned to Sakura and smiled. "You better come with us too." She nodded and everyone followed him out of the room. All five people walked quickly and silently down the huge halls. Sakura just stared in amazement as she passed by different rooms and hallways with huge paintings on the wall.

Soon they were outside following the dirt path lit up by the moon. Finally, after walking quite a while, Sakura found herself in front of a small cottage. She didn't say anything the entire time; she was confused and tired. The boy with glasses muttered something that she couldn't catch and the door suddenly opened. It's as if he used magic or something, no, that's insane - no, that's insane.I'm just tired, that's all, she thought to herself. They all stepped inside and were greeted by a cozy little room with an already lit fire. They sat down on the sofas that were provided in silence except for the boy with messy brown hair, who leaned against the wall, not one of them saying anything. Finally Tomoyo cleared her voice looked at Sakura.

"Sakura, how did you get here?" She asked. Sakura looked around to find everyone staring at her. She shifted uncomfortably in her spot.

"Well," she started, "I was over at Agnes' apartment and - "

" Oh! Are you and Agnes still going out?" Tomoyo asked in dismay. Sakura shook her head.

"Iie. I once overheard him talking to someone - I don't know to whom though. He was only dating me because he wanted something from me." Tomoyo's eyes narrowed.

"Did he say what he wanted?" the boy with glasses asked, his voice dangerous. She turned to him and shook her head.

"Iie, I don't know what he wanted from me," answered Sakura, a frown on her face. "He asked me to come over, and I went because I thought something was wrong. But he just wanted to get back with me. We were standing on the balcony, and when I told him no, he got angry and pushed me off. And then, I was in his room," she said indicating to Syaoran who had his hands crossed over his chest with a serious look on his face.

"I see," was all Tomoyo said. "Oh! Let me introduce you to everyone else!" Tomoyo said excitedly. "This is Hiiragizawa Eriol," she said pointing to the boy with glasses. He stood up and went over to Sakura, then bowed and kissed her hand, making her blush.

"It is a true pleasure," he told Sakura. Sakura smiled back at him.

"The pleasure's all mine," she replied to him. At the corner of the room where Syaoran was standing, he felt his anger rise and was surprised because he didn't know why. Eriol, sensing his angry aura, smiled wickedly.

"This is Li Meilin," Tomoyo went on, indicating the girl with pigtails. Meilin smiled, and Sakura returned it. She stared at everyone then remembered.

"Oh, where are my manners?" She stood up herself and bowed. "I'm Kinomoto Sakura. Hajimemashite, and please call me Sakura," she told them. She suddenly saw the young man in the corner looking at her. "Who is he?" She asked Tomoyo. Meilin gasped.

"You don't know who he is?" she sounded shocked. Sakura blushed and shook her head. Syaoran lifted up his head and stared at her for a moment.

"Li Syaoran," he told her. Meilin ran up beside him and grabbed onto his arm.

"Prince Li Syaoran," she added. "My fiancée." Sakura stared. Hoe? Prince? Fiancée? She thought. Syaoran looked uncomfortable with Meilin grabbing onto him.

"Let go Meilin. Meilin - get off of me," he said, trying to get her off of him. After a little bit more of him telling her to get off of him, she pouted and reluctantly letting go of him.

"Let's all get some sleep now, and we'll talk about what we're going to do tomorrow," Eriol suggested. Everyone nodded in agreement too tired to do anything else. Eriol put them all in their own room. For a cottage, it sure is big, Sakura thought as she pulled the warm blanket over her. She soon fell into a peaceful sleep.

AN: That's the end of chapter 2, I know – a lot longer than the first one… hope it was better too! Review and let me know what you think! Thanks!


	3. The Plan

AN: Hi everyone thanks for your reviews! They're very encouraging so I shall continue to update. Sorry everything's all scrunched up - many, many apologies. This is my first time putting up a fanfic so I'm still learning how things work.

I do not own CCS, wish I did, but do not - so don't sue me!

Always & Forever

Sakura woke up early the next morning with the sunshine flowing into her room. She sat up and rubbed the sleep out of her eyes and yawned. She wondered what the time was and looked around. She didn't get very much of a view of her room late last night because it was so dark and she was so tired. She was in a little room with a little bed, but a huge window. The room itself was a light pink (AN: hmm.how'd that happen?). There was a little dresser in front of her and a night table next to her bed. She smiled and could only think that she was living in a magical world like in the fairy tales she's read. She was so caught up in her own imagination that she didn't notice the boy with fiery amber eyes staring at her in amusement. He allowed himself to give a small smile. His eyes, normally cold, had now softened at the sight of her. (AN: Isn't that cute? Come on, admit it! It's absolutely adorable… I can't go on like this).

He realized what he was doing and scowled at himself, shaking his head. He walked towards the kitchen and sat down angrily. What is going on? He asked himself. What's gotten into you? You just meet this girl and you go all crazy for her? Did I just admit that? Snap out of it Syaoran! He walked away towards the kitchen.

"My, we aren't in a good mood, are we?" A taunting voice said. Syaoran glared at Eriol.

"Shut up Hiiragizawa," he grumbled as he fought to keep his temper under control. He didn't want to explode and have Sakura see him that way. Once again, Sakura came into his thoughts.

"Well, we're touchy this morning," Eriol continued as if he never heard him. He smirked at Syaoran's face, which was turning redder than it already was. "Do you want to know what I was wondering?" He asked politely as he sat down.

"No," Syaoran answered coldly. Once again Eriol ignored him.

"How is it, that when we arrived - you, your royal majesty, you were on top of that girl? And she didn't even know your name or who you were? And I thought you hated girls, my cute little descendent." Eriol stated as he leaned back in his chair and smiled in satisfaction at the deep red blush on Syaoran's face. This is going to be fun, he thought.

"Did you feel her power?" Syaoran asked, eager to change the subject. Eriol's face grew serious and he nodded, his sapphire eyes deep in thought. "How did she end up here? And why is she so powerful?" Syaoran continued.

"She seems familiar, yet I don't know why. It seems as if I know her or something, but that's impossible. But anyway, I think I may have an idea how she ended up here, as for her powers - I don't know," Eriol replied, "but first let's wait for the others to get up. In the meantime, how about we make some breakfast. I don't know about you, but I'm starving. You can help or you can sit there and think about the girl with emerald eyes in the other room," he commented. Syaoran got up quickly and as he brushed past Eriol toward the kitchen, he gave him a death glare. (AN: Famous death glare - I love that as well)

Sakura still sat in her bed with her arms around her knees. Her thoughts had somehow drifted to the amber-eyed boy who had saved her life yesterday. A soft smile played on her lips, then she snapped out of her daydreaming; realizing she was thinking about Syaoran and wondered if anyone had seen her. A slight blush crept across her face. She thought for a second why she would think of him, and then shook her head to clear the thought (AN: pretty dense, our Sakura). She wondered if anyone was awake. She got out of bed quietly and found herself in the kitchen listening to Syaoran and Eriol argue about how to make pancakes. She tried not to laugh, but she couldn't help but giggle and when she did, both boys turned in her direction. Syaoran looked down while Eriol smirked at him. Sakura noticed them staring at her and stopped giggling.

"Uh, ohayo," she said, "sorry, I couldn't help it, you both were very funny. You're both doing it all wrong." They just continued to stare at her. She shifted from one foot to the other. "Would you like me to make it for you?" She offered, hoping either one of them would say something. Eriol smiled suddenly at her and she felt herself relax. "Of course you can help," he told her, leading her in the kitchen. He showed her where all the ingredients were. "Let's leave her to make these on her own, we wouldn't want to get in the way, now would we?" he asked Syaoran. Syaoran, who had remained quiet the whole time, just nodded before giving Eriol another death glare. Syaoran glanced up to see Sakura observing around the kitchen, and he flushed red. Breathe.he reminded himself. Eriol pushed him out of the kitchen, leaving Sakura by herself. She sighed and got to work.

Soon the smell of pancakes woke Tomoyo and Meilin up. When everyone was seated around the table, Sakura came out with the pancakes smiling brightly at everyone. "Ohayo," she said cheerfully.

"Good morning, Sakura," Tomoyo told her. "Oh, it's the famous Kinomoto pancakes." Sakura nodded, feeling a little wave of homesickness, while everyone took his or her share and started eating. Sakura didn't touch her food until everyone started eating. She looked at each one of them eagerly, hoping her pancakes tasted good. After compliments from everyone, she looked at Syaoran. He managed to grumble, "these are good," and only then did she start eating her own, satisfied with that answer.

After everyone was done, Sakura volunteered to do the dishes. Syaoran brought his plate along with Meilin's into the kitchen by the sink. He turned back and saw Eriol whispering something to Tomoyo and he groaned. He had a feeling he wasn't going to like what was going to happen. Tomoyo came into the kitchen with her plate with a huge smile on her face.

"Oh Sakura," She said, "look, Syaoran's nice enough to help you with the dishes." She said cheerfully. Syaoran looked at Tomoyo in disbelief, then glared angrily at her, knowing that behind those innocent violet eyes were evil wickedness. She could fool anyone except him. It was bad enough with Eriol, but knowing he had a girlfriend that was just as evil just made things so much worst for him.

"Thanks Syaoran," Sakura said happily as she looked at him. He saw her happy expression and gave her another small smile. Jeez, I've smiled 4 times in two days, something is definitely wrong here, he thought.

"No problem, Kinomoto," was all he said, "you can soap and I'll rinse," he suggested.

"Syaoran, I told you to call me Sakura," She told him politely. He felt himself blush and kept his head down. They were doing fine until... Suddenly the glass Syaoran was rinsing that was full with water somehow jerked and splashed all over Sakura. "Go-gomen Sakura - I - I didn't me- mean t-," he stuttered, turning red. He knew what had happened and promised to torture Eriol for the rest of his life. She just stared at him, her eyes wide in shock at him. Suddenly she splashed him. He stared at her with his mouth open. (AN: Hehehehe, I know where this is going - do you?)

"Gomen Syaoran, I didn't mean to," she told him, her voice taunting and her eyes were laughing at him now. They stared at each other for a second, then started splashing at each like crazy, both of them laughing. Syaoran suddenly grabbed her hands and pulled her towards him. Both of them were laughing and dripping wet when they heard a cough. They turned their heads to see Eriol, Tomoyo and Meilin standing there with shocked expressions on their faces. Neither one of them have heard Syaoran really laugh out loud like that, not the serious, cold Syaoran who did nothing but train. Eriol and Tomoyo suddenly broke out in evil grins while Meilin just gave both of them an angry look.

Sakura and Syaoran realized just how close they were to each other, and Syaoran let go of Sakura's hands, which he was still holding and pushed his damp messy brown hair out of his eyes. Both him and Sakura looked around at the mess they made. Sakura spoke first.

"This is all my fault - Syaoran accidentally spilled water on me and got me a bit wet, and then I splashed back and then - this happened," she told them. "I'll clean it up, I promise." Eriol and Tomoyo smirked silently at the word accidentally. ()

"So will I," Syaoran said, feeling guilty because she had taken all the blame. Besides, it really was his fault, not hers, he might as well clean up. The other three said nothing, just turned away and went back to the fireplace. Before leaving, Tomoyo winked at Sakura and she turned red, but couldn't exactly figure out why (AN: shakes head poor Sakura, so dense). She kept her face down so Syaoran wouldn't see her. Both of them cleaned up the kitchen in silence and when they were done they joined the others, that were in a deep conversation. Tomoyo suddenly gasped, alarming everyone.

"Oh Sakura! Your clothes are all wet! Come on, I've got the perfect thing for you," she exclaimed. Everyone sweatdropped as Sakura giggled nervous. Some things never change, she thought as she followed Tomoyo.

"So, having fun?" Eriol asked. Syaoran turned red and muttered something under his breath. "Now don't get angry, my cute little descendent. This was not my fault." Syaoran just glared daggers at him.

"Like hell it isn't, Hiiragizawa," Syaoran spat out at him. Eriol just continued to look smug. Meilin remained silent, which was quite strange. Syaoran looked over at her in surprise; she was usually very protective and would be jumping all over him and Sakura by now, but she wasn't saying anything. Before he could ask her anything, Sakura and Tomoyo came back. Sakura was now wearing a pink T-shirt with brown shorts. This surprised Syaoran, Meilin and Eriol - no girl has ever worn pants in any of the kingdoms. Breathe.Syaoran reminded himself again for the second time. Sakura blushed and sat down. (AN: A lot of blushing, don't you think? Those two embarrass too easily)

"So, do you know how I got here?" She asked them quietly, not looking up. Syaoran had to tear his eyes away from her and look at Eriol.

"Actually," Eriol said, "I'm not surprised you are here. You, Sakura, have a great deal of magical power, more powerful than I could have imagined. It would be easy for you to come into this realm." Sakura gasped and stared at him in awe. She sat there in silence, staring at him. She suddenly laughed out loud, but her laugh died away.

"What? I don't have magical powers, there's no such thing!" she finally managed to choke out. Eriol sighed; he remembered how stubborn Tomoyo had been when he first told her about having magic.

"Yes, you do. I have magic and so does Syaoran, we both can sense it. The only other way to get here is by passing through a time portal called the mirror of Malorn, which was how Tomoyo got here. And the only one I know of is the one which Tomoyo went through which is in the park," he told her. He paused and looked over at Tomoyo, and Tomoyo smiled sweetly at him before starting to blush. Sakura blinked, hoe? She thought, staring from her friend to Eriol, she would definitely have to find out what was going on between Tomoyo and Eriol.

"How do I get back?" She asked, breaking the entranced look that Eriol and Tomoyo both had. Eriol remembered what he was doing and started getting focused again, but couldn't ignore the wicked smirk on Syaoran's face.

"Well, you have to go back through the mirror of Malorn. In your world, the mirrors are invisible, but in our world, you can see them. Unfortunately, there is only one mirror left in our kingdom that is known to us," he said. She brought her eyebrows together.

"What do you mean, there's only one left?" She asked curiously. "Let me explain. We," Eriol stated, meaning Syaoran, Meilin and Tomoyo and himself, "believe the person who attacked Syaoran last night was sent by someone known as the 'Dark Emperor' (AN: Sighs Yes, I realize I took that from Digimon, but I couldn't think of anything else!). He has been after the Li clan for a long time. He wants power and the Li clan has lots of it. And he is the only one who has the last mirror of Malorn." Sakura remained silent for a while.

"Can't you guys just somehow send me back or something? You've got magic."she said, her voice starting to shake. Eriol shook his head.

"I'm sorry, but we do not have that kind of power," he told her sadly. She sighed and put her head in her hands.

"Oh, this is great. The bad guy has the only mirror left in this entire place," she said, her voice a whisper, feeling tears about to fall. How am going to get home? She thought hopelessly. Everyone stared at her in sympathy. Tomoyo sat next to her and put her arms around her. (AN: Awww, poor Sakura.Syaoran! Do something! Wait - I'm writing this, aren't I?) Syaoran looked at her and felt his heart ache. He stopped for a second and before he knew what he was doing.

"Let's go then." Everyone stared at him in confusion.

"What?" Eriol asked, confused and not knowing where this would lead. Syaoran felt his face burn bright red and swallowed, but when he saw Sakura's tearful face, he continued. (AN: Awww she's his motivation!)

"Let's go. I mean, listen, this guy has been after my family and me for a very long time. I say we defeat him and then I wouldn't have to worry about him harming my family," he paused and looked at Sakura, "plus, then Sakura can go home." He stopped and stared at the four faces. No one said anything, just started blankly at him.

"Are you insane?" Meilin screeched, standing up in rage, breaking the silence. "It's not that simple Syaoran! You can't just walk up to the Dark Emperor and say, 'hi, can I kill you so you can leave my family alone and get this girl home'! He's known as one of the most dangerous and powerful dark magician in all of the kingdoms. You could get hurt - you can die!" Meilin paused for a breath, her eyes angry.

Syaoran sighed. She does have a point, he thought to himself. He realized that he only reason he actually suggested that idea was for the sake of Sakura. She obviously didn't want to stay here, she probably had a family and even a boyfriend back home, Syaoran felt a pain go through him. Still, if she wanted to go home, then he would try to get her home.

"Well." Tomoyo breathed out. She and Sakura had stayed quiet. "What are we going to do?" She asked Eriol, who was obviously smarter than all of them put together.

"Sakura does have a great amount of power," he said. "I think she should be able to stand up to the Dark Emperor and help us defeat him." He concluded. Syaoran frowned; he didn't like the idea of Sakura going up against the Dark Emperor, that wasn't part of his plan. He opened his mouth to speak but Meilin beat him.

"Wait! You're agreeing with his idea?" Meilin screamed out in fury. Eriol looked at her and saw that she was frightened. But they both knew what was going on. Eriol would do the exact same thing for Tomoyo; and Meilin would do the same thing for Syaoran. Meilin saw the look in Eriol's eyes, and slowly gave a nod showing that she understood. Eriol hesitated, sighed and then nodded. Syaoran sighed in relief, Meilin looked sadly at Syaoran and Eriol, Eriol looked curiously at his cute little descendent and Tomoyo started at Meilin. No one seemed to remember that Sakura was there, she sat up with her arms propped on her knees and her hands holding up her head; she started at one spot on the floor, her eyes full of thought.

"No," she said suddenly, breaking the silence that surrounded them. They looked at her; she hadn't said anything to them about this whole idea. "I know what you're doing and it's not going to happen," she told them. Syaoran stared at her in shock while Tomoyo shook her head as if she knew this would happen all along.

"W - what?" Syaoran asked. "What are you talking about?"

"I don't want anyone to get hurt on my account," she told him firmly. They stared at each other for a moment. "I'm not going to let all my friends get hurt just so I can get back home." She had figured out his main and only reason for doing this. Meilin saw the embarrassed look on Syaoran's face and realized she had to do something to cover it up so Sakura wouldn't find out what was really going on.

"And what makes you think we're doing this for you?" She asked Sakura, who looked taken back. She started stuttering something but Meilin cut her off. "Didn't you hear Syaoran? He wants to protect his family and his clan. He just mentioned you would be able to go home and you go right away and assume he's doing this all for you." Everyone stated at Meilin with wide eyes and hanging mouths except for Sakura who was blushing a bright red.

"G-gomen ne," Sakura gasped, "I really didn't mean to -"

"Ii desu, Sakura," Syaoran told her. She looked up at him but he wasn't looking at her. She couldn't ignore the way the sunlight reflected off of his messy hair as he sat on the couch. He knew she was watching him and although he told himself not to, he turned his head and his liquid amber eyes met bright emerald eyes. He blushed and looked away. Sakura looked at him in confusion and wondered why he had gone red. He didn't seem to have sunburn or anything, or he didn't seem sick. Maybe there was something in her hair. Eriol interrupted her thoughts.

"Well, if we're going to do this, we may as well prepare a plan," he said and everyone nodded in agreement. Tomoyo saw the nervous look on Sakura's face.

"Don't worry Sakura," Tomoyo told her softly so no one would hear. "Just think of this as an adventure, you'll have fun."

"Hooooe," Sakura muttered gloomily as Tomoyo laughed. All day they planned what they were going to do and only stopped once to have lunch. Syaoran would tell his family he was going to another kingdom and they would leave tomorrow night. They would carry their luggage because they would be traveling on their own and by foot. They would first go through Sherblue woods, then take a ship across the Tenshi Lake where they would stay at Prince Yukito's palace for a night or two before continuing with their journey.

Sakura squeaked when she heard they would have to past by "Ghostle" and everyone looked at her while Tomoyo giggled. Eriol and Syaoran exchanged confused glances as Sakura gave them a nervous giggle. "Uh, there aren't any ghosts there, are there?" She asked carefully. Same old Sakura, Tomoyo thought happily. "Actually," Eriol started, "there are - "

"Aren't," Syaoran blurted out, once again his friends stared at him in surprise. He gave his friend a 'what?' look. (AN: More like a I-couldn't- help-it-look) "There aren't any ghosts." Sakura sighed in relief.

"Good," she said.

"But there are dragons and fairies," Meilin said. Sakura's eyes widened.

"Really?" She asked. Meilin nodded so did Tomoyo. "Will we run into any?"

"Most likely," Eriol told her, "but with the way I chose we take, we should be nowhere near them," he added in quickly seeing he alarmed look. "But.don't forget we might just met one." he told her, scaring her for a bit. She looked around and giggled nervously again.

"That's enough Hiiragizawa," Syaoran said firmly, his face gone back to being emotional and his eyes were cold. Sakura gave him a grateful smile but his face didn't change. She frowned; wondering if she had did or said something wrong. She suddenly thought of something.

"Um, aren't you guys suppose to be back at the castle or something? I mean, isn't your family going to wonder where you are?" She asked them. Meilin nodded.

"She's right, we better get back," Meilin said. They looked at Sakura and wondered what they were going to do with her. "She could always come back with us," Meilin suggested for Syaoran's sake. Tomoyo thought about this for a second.

"I don't see why we can't. We can just say she's a friend," Tomoyo said, "except your clothes would have to change again. Girls don't wear shorts here, or pants for that matter, but we could just find you a long skirt or something, all the girls wear long skirts and dresses and I have one that would fit you perfectly." For once no one sweat-dropped but instead nodded in agreement. Sakura was about to protest when Syaoran cut in.

"Ok then Daidouji," he turned to her, "you and Sakura will come afterwards with her dressed properly. In the meantime, Hiiragizawa, Meilin and myself will go back to the castle where I will inform my mother that you're having a guest over." Everyone agreed and soon afterwards the three left the cottage.

AN: Well… that was tiring! For a lazy person I must say, I'm doing a pretty good job. What'd you think, what'd you think? I know! Review and tell me! Thankssss


	4. Catching up & Meeting Li Yelan

AN: Hey everyone! Thanks for the reviews - I didn't think I'd get that many, so I'm flattered. I hope everything is a little clearer now in terms of paragraphs and spacing things out. Oh well, here's chapter 4, hope you enjoy it!

Disclaimer: I do not own CCS, only the story that I'm writing, so please don't sue me, I'm already poor as it is people!

Always & Forever

Tomoyo grabbed hold of Sakura's hand and dragged her to one of the bedrooms to find that skirt. Tomoyo kneeled down, opened a drawer and started throwing clothes all over the place. Sakura thought for a second and decided to seize the moment.

"Um, Tomoyo," she started uncertainly, "how did you end up here?"

"Well, I was walking through the park one day and I stumbled on a rock or something, I can't remember, and I fell down. But instead of falling down on the ground, I fell on top of Eriol," Tomoyo said without looking up. "Back then when I first arrived, they had another Mirror of Malorn so I got to go back home." Sakura looked confused.

"Then, why'd you come back? I thought you said you were moving to America," she said, "I thought I would never see you again." Tears formed in her pretty emerald eyes. Tomoyo looked up at her best friend who was sitting on the bed, looking down. She got up and sat next to her.

"I know, I'm sorry I had to lie to you Sakura. But the first time I came here, I ended up spending a lot of time with everyone and I grew to love everyone and when I went back, I missed them more than anything. I told my mother and she agreed on one condition, that she came with me when I went back." She told her.

"Your mom's here too?" Sakura asked in surprise. Tomoyo nodded and smiled.

"She'll be happy when she sees you." She said. "So, we went back to the park where I tripped and we found the entrance back to this place." She concluded.

"Why didn't you come back to visit me? Why didn't you tell me?" Sakura asked her.

"If I had told you, you wouldn't have believed me and I would have felt like an idiot," she replied softly. Sakura looked at her in surprise.

"Tomoyo! I would have believed you! I have always believed you, you're my best friend," Sakura gasped out. Tomoyo nodded, still sad.

"It wasn't an easy choice for me to make Sakura. You see, you can only come here once and go back home. The second time you come, you stay forever; you can't ever go back, not ever again. You would have to live here for the rest of your life. So I had to choose between you and - and -" she paused and blushed.

"And who, Tomoyo?" Sakura asked curiously, looking at her friend turn bright red.

"And Eriol," Tomoyo whispered as Sakura broke out in a huge grin.

"You're in love with him!" Sakura yelled out in excitement while Tomoyo just nodded and smiled, still red. "Does he know?" Sakura asked, and once more Tomoyo nodded. "Does that mean you're both a couple? Like boyfriend and girlfriend?" Sakura asked again. Tomoyo nodded yet again. Sakura squealed in delight and jumped up and grabbed her friend in a hug. Both girls just laughed.

"I wish you could have told me this before, Tomoyo," Sakura told her friend once they had settled back down again.

"I wish I could, but - I just couldn't," Tomoyo said in frustration. Sakura nodded, understanding what her friend was trying to say. Tomoyo went back to looking for her skirt.

"Tomoyo, did you know that the second time you came back you'd have to stay?" Sakura asked suddenly. Tomoyo paused for a minute and then sighed.

"Yes, I did Sakura," she told her. Sakura nodded. Would I stay here if I found the person I loved? She thought to herself, then shook her head to get the thought out of her mind. "Wait, how did you get back into our world if there's only one mirror of Malorn left?"

"There were two back then when I first arrived. But after a while, someone was cleaning it or doing something, I'm not sure, and it accidentally tripped and it broke," Tomoyo replied to her friend's question.

"Thanks," Sakura muttered under her breath to the person who broke the mirror, even though she didn't even know who it was. Suddenly Tomoyo squealed in delight and turned to look at Sakura with her eyes sparkling and a wide smile. Sakura stared at her friend, not sure if she wanted to know why her friend was suddenly so happy.

Syaoran walked into the large room and sighed as he heard his sisters giggle loudly at him. He walked towards his mother who sat in the middle of his older sisters, who were still giggling at him. He drew in a sharp breath, hoping he had enough strength to do what he was suppose to. He can battle more men than any other warrior without breaking a sweat, he can face off dragons and use his magic easily; that did not scare him. But the one thing that did scare him.was his mother.

Yelan looked at her son as he bowed at her. Behind him stood Eriol and Meilin, who also bowed towards her. She nodded at them, telling them that it was all right. She frowned and realized someone was missing from their little group. Where was his friend, Daidouji Tomoyo? Ever since she had came to them she had always hung around her son and his friends, especially Eriol. She knew something had been going on between the two young people but refused to say anything; they would tell when they were ready. (How different of Yelan, huh?) Also they were hiding something from her, but she would find out soon enough.

"Mother," Syaoran started, now standing up perfectly straight, his sisters no longer talking. "I am here to inform you that we will have a guest with us for today." He watched his mother's perfectly shaped eyebrows go up in surprise. "Daidouji has a friend visiting from a far land with no place to stay. I was kind enough to offer her to stay with us for the day." He concluded. Once more, he saw the shocked look on his mother's face, but also his sisters. They whispered among themselves quietly; it was very strange that their little brother offered anything to anyone, even his voice wasn't even as cold as it usually was.

Suddenly, as if on cue, the large doors opened and in came Tomoyo smiling at them, but she entered alone. The three friends wondered where Sakura was. Tomoyo turned around, a bit surprised, and went back to the door, obviously trying to pull someone in the room. There was a muffled sound of voices, obviously arguing softly. Finally, Tomoyo appeared and smiled at the group. She walked towards Yelan and slowly, shadowing behind her, was Sakura.

She was wearing a long green gown, which was smoothly rounded off at her neck with the sleeves that flared out at her hands. The dress was well fitted on her and at her hips; the dress flared out lightly and met the ground around her in a little circle, a matching green bow in her hair. The dress managed to make her already bright emerald eyes seem greener - if that were possible. Her little face showed a small shy smile on it along with a slight blush. Tomoyo had told her she couldn't find the skirt and instead found something better, much better for her to wear to meet Syaoran's mother. Syaoran just gasped at her, not believing that it really was Sakura. She looked so different from earlier and last night. Breathe.came that voice again in his head. He realized what he was doing and averted his attention back to his mother.

Yelan stared at the girl with wide eyes. Who is she? She possesses great power, even greater than I.She also noticed the way her son stared at this girl; this also surprising her. Sakura stopped beside Tomoyo, shaking a bit out of nervousness. She noticed how quiet the room was and that everyone was watching her intensely. She saw Tomoyo curtsy perfectly, and she attempted to do the same, but was a bit clumsy. She stood up straight once again and suddenly felt a slight headache coming on.

She felt - impossible as it seemed to her - as if someone was trying to get into her mind. She knew automatically that it was Syaoran's mother, she didn't know how exactly, she just knew. She got offended at this and somehow built a barrier around her. She gasped at herself and took a step back, surprised that she could do that. Eriol and Syaoran looked at her, wide-eyed, then stared at each other, then back at her. They felt her pink aura glowing all around her.

At the same moment, Yelan gasped herself and put her hand to her head as she faltered. Syaoran instantly made a movement toward his mother, but paused as she regained her posture. She felt as if she had drained all her power, and all this girl did was put up a barrier so she wouldn't get into her thoughts. This girl was very strong and she probably didn't even know how to control her power. (AN: Sigh, this is getting boring.New topic) "Syaoran, please show this girl to her room, she will be spending over the night," Yelan instructed, once she regained her strength. Syaoran stared hard at his mother.

"But Mother -," he started, but with one look from his mother, he bowed and started walking out. He paused to see if Sakura was following him. Sakura once again tried to curtsy and then hurried out of the room, nearly walking past Syaoran. She just wanted to get out of there as soon as possible. Once they left the room and walked a little bit further away, Sakura fainted.

Syaoran saw and on instinct caught her before she met the ground. He stared at her; surprised he did that without even noticing. He sighed, then picked her up, holding her like a little child and started walking again, taking her towards her room. He stared at her and blushed as she moved slightly, making herself more comfortable in his arms. He looked up at the ceiling, pretending that it was nothing new carrying girls he didn't know around.

He placed her in a room that, like the one at the cottage, was completely a light shade of pink. He lay her down on the bed and wondered if he should stay here until she got up to make sure she was ok, or whether just to leave. He decided he was just going to stay until she got up, then he would leave. He walked next to the door and leaned against the wall in the shadows, waiting for her to get up. Finally, her eyelids seem to flutter and she groaned. Seeing that she was awake, he quietly slipped out of the room and closed the door as soundlessly as he could. He turned around and jumped back as he yelled in surprise.

Meilin was standing there, inches away from his face, nearly scaring him to death. "Meilin! What are you trying to do?" He yelled at her, his face turning a shade of red. She gave him no reply, she just stared at him, her bright eyes staring up at him in surprise, curiosity and they held back some sort of secret. It was his turn to stare at her curiously. "What?" She smiled, shook he head and walked away, leaving him very confused.

Sakura looked around to find herself in yet another room. "What happened?" She asked herself out loud. I remember fainting.but nothing else, she thought. How did I get here? And right away she knew her answer and turned red. Syaoran.


	5. Leaving, remembering and falling?

AN: Thank you for your reviews sniffs and wipes away tears. Here's chapter 5, hope you enjoy it, if not - notes on how to make this story more interesting is always welcome!

Disclaimer: I do not own CCS, how many times am I going to have to say this?

Always & Forever

After dinner, the five friends walked back to their rooms, tried and stuffed. Each of them had rooms next to each other. Meilin was next to Tomoyo, Tomoyo was next to Eriol, Eriol was next to Syaoran and Syaoran was next to Sakura. Before going into his room, Syaoran looked at Eriol, who as looking back at him. With a quick nod and look of determination from both of them, they stepped into their own rooms.

A few minutes later Sakura heard a knock on her door. She opened it and immediately Syaoran came inside and started looking around her room. She stared at him curiously, wondering what he was doing. "Syaoran, what are you doing here?" She asked him. He continued to look around her room as if he didn't hear her, and he finally found what he was looking for. He pulled out what looked like a duffel bag to Sakura. "Syaoran?" She asked again. He looked up at her, as if seeing her for the first time that she was in the room.

"Get your stuff packed, we're leaving tonight," he told her, his voice urgent.

"Hoe? Tonight?" She repeated him in surprise. They weren't supposed to leave till tomorrow night according to their plan.

"Hai, now only pack the stuff you need because we're going to be carrying out own stuff," he told her and he rushed out of the room. She stared after him for a moment, then started packing her things. A few minutes later Syaoran returned to see if she was packed and she was waiting there with her bag ready to go. He told her to follow him and be as quiet as she could. She nodded and they were soon outside of the house, greeted by the others.

"Wakarimasen (I don't understand), why are we leaving now?" Sakura asked them, wanting to know why.

"Because Syaoran's mother has a great deal of power and if we stayed any longer she would have figured out what we were up to. By the time she does figure out what we're doing, it will be too late to stop us," Eriol told her as she nodded in comprehension. They wasted no more time talking; they immediately started out on their journey.

As they continued through the woods, known as Sherblue woods which to Sakura seemed quite scary. She had no problem walking in the woods though; she had changed her clothes before leaving knowing that it would probably get chilly. She was wearing a long sleeve black shirt with black pants (AN: don't ask me where she got that from), something she felt much more comfortable in; plus, something felt - almost comforting about being in the woods, aside for the face there might be ghosts wandering around. The group of five continued to walk and paused every now and then for rest, but soon they all grew tired and decided that they had walked enough for the night.

Using his magic, Eriol set up two tents; one for the guys and one for the girls, plus he made a fire. Sakura, although she walked a lot and was tired, didn't feel like sleeping just yet. She sat down around the fire to keep herself warm and looked up at the sky, which was filled with the bright shining moon and sparkling stars. Everyone else had gone inside their tent and was sleeping.

"You seem interested in the stars, as if they were telling you a story they have not told me," Eriol told her, surprising her. She laughed.

"The stars can't tell me any stories," she told him, "it's just that, they do have stars back home." her voice trailed off. Even though she had only been with them for a day, she already missed her father and her brother very much. But even though she missed her family, she felt somewhat - safe, as if she knew this place. Eriol, sensing this, decided to go onto a different topic.

"How would you like to know how to control your magic?" He asked her. Her eyes grew wide in wonder.

"Could you really?" She asked him, excitement clearly shown in her voice. Eriol smiled and nodded at her. He taught her how to do simple things, like creating a shield around herself - which she managed to do before by blocking out Yelan. He taught her how to start a fire, how to move things telepathically. Sakura was enjoying every bit of her lessons, and was eager to learn more but by using her magic - she felt herself going very weak. (AN: Yes, I do realize that they don't have that kind of power, but oh well. live with it. makes my job easier anyway)

"That's enough for tonight," Eriol told her, sensing her weakening aura. She nodded at him.

"Arigatou Eriol," she told him as she yawned. He nodded to her and she walked off to her tent. Eriol frowned for a moment; there was something about that girl that - it seemed as if he knew her, like he already met her before this once, but that didn't make any sense at all. Eriol shook the thought off, looked towards his tent and smirked.

"Coast is clear, my cute little descendent," He said mischievously, knowing that Syaoran was awake the whole time he was teaching Sakura how to use her magic and that he was watching them from the tent. Syaoran stayed inside the tent though. "Come on out," he continued to call him. Finally, he did and sat across from him, the fire in the middle of them. "Why didn't you join us?" Eriol asked him. Syaoran seemed utterly interested in the fire.

"Because I didn't want to interfere," he replied. "What good is it if I'm here watching and doing nothing?"

"Ah, but you can watch and do nothing from hiding inside the tent, right?" Eriol told him, hoping to get some sort of upset reaction from his cute little descendent, but received none, which shocked him. "What's up, Syaoran?"

"Why am I feeling this way Eriol?" he asked suddenly, the fire crackling in the night (AN: yes, I do realize this is something Syaoran would never actually do, but it's MY fanfic so deal. I personally like Syaoran being all downright mushy when it comes to Sakura.but that's just me). Eriol sighed and remembered how he felt when he realized he was starting to fall in love with Tomoyo. It was very confusing for him; he didn't know what was going on, he thought someone had put a spell on him or something.

"Well, do you mean that why is it that you feel yourself falling for the green-eyed stranger that has suddenly fell from the sky?" Eriol asked him. Syaoran nodded, his eyes never leaving the fire. "Do you find it strange that you have started developing feelings for her?"

"Yes," Syaoran replied with a sigh. "Why though? I don't get it, all the other girls I've never liked, they - they're too - girly. But what makes her different? Why did I fall for her?" He asked Eriol all these questions, feeling confused. There, he had said it, he had admitted he liked the girl that fell from the sky in his room. He heard Eriol chuckle quietly, and felt his anger starting to rise.

"Syaoran, how am I to know the answer to your questions? Am I the one who has fallen for her? You know the answer to your own questions, there must be something about her that makes her different from all the others, whether it be her green eyes, or her kindness - I don't know.but you do. But you do know it's ok to feel that way right?" Eriol told him. Syaoran looked up at Eriol and saw that for the first time, he wasn't smirking at him. He returned his gaze to the fire. Once more he heard Eriol sigh and get up. "I'm going to bed, we have to get up early to start again. I suggest that if you stay out here longer, that you do get some sleep." With that, he left towards his tent. Syaoran didn't know how long he stayed out there, but finally he went to get some sleep.

The next couple of days were like that for the friends; they would travel every day with breaks, and at night Eriol would teach Sakura more and more how to use her magic. He was surprised how quickly she learned how to control her magic, it usually took a very long time for someone to control his or her magic; but it seemed natural to her. (AN: I'm sorry, is this getting too boring? I'm not much for excitement.sowwie)

One day Tomoyo and Sakura were walking a little way from the others. "So Sakura," Tomoyo started, "What do you think of Syaoran?" Sakura stared at her friend, feeling the blood running to her cheeks.

"He's a very nice friend," Sakura replied to her. Tomoyo smirked at her and opened her mouth to ask another question, but Sakura asked before her. "How did you and Eriol get together?" It was Tomoyo's turn to blush.

"Well," she started, her soft voice going much softer, "I remember I had started falling for him when I started spending more time with him. I spent nearly all my time with him, he always offered to show me around and teach me things. I remember one day we were in the garden and I was on a swing that hung from a cherry blossom tree. I was just there, barely moving on the swing and suddenly he came up from behind me and covered my eyes.

"Of course I knew it was him. We started talking and I got on the topic of all my friends and how much I missed you. He asked if I regretted staying here, and I replied no because I didn't. Sure I missed you all very much, but I was enjoying myself very much here with him. He then asked me why I chose to stay here when all my friends were somewhere else. I laughed at this because I thought he would get it by now. Boys, they sure are dense," She said laughing, thinking of both Eriol and Syaoran. Syaoran was dense for not seeing that Sakura had fallen for him. The two had been spending a great deal of time together, Syaoran was showing her the different plants and trees, telling her stories of all sorts and even some magic.

"Go on," Sakura urged her, very much into the story. Up ahead of them, Eriol could hear the girls' conversation and smiled as he remembered that day. Syaoran caught hold of it and smirked.

"Thinking about Tomoyo again?" He asked, his voice teasing. Eriol looked up knowing that he wasn't going to let himself be the only one blushing.

"And what about you, my cute little descendent? Are you not constantly - and I use that term loosely - about your little green-eyed tenshi?" Eriol replied with his own question. Syaoran turned red as Eriol smiled to himself; it was so easy to get back at his little descendent, he was always so soft when it came to Sakura. He heard Tomoyo giggle, telling Sakura to relax, she'd continue with her story. Once more he smiled to himself. Syaoran looked behind him and saw Meilin walking behind him and Eriol, her head down deep in thought. Behind her were Tomoyo and Sakura, and seeing Sakura, he quickly turned back around.

"Ok Sakura," Tomoyo said, still giggling. "Well, I asked him why did he think I stayed, and surprisingly enough, the great Eriol could not figure it out. I then asked him if he wanted me to go back and I will never forget the look on his face," Sakura looked at her friend, her violet eyes were happy remembering the memory, a smile on her lips.

"He looked so shocked - but most of all, very scared and hurt. He told me, 'of course not, why would you think that?' I could tell my question hurt him and apologized. I asked him why he wanted me to stay and he turned red. It is very rare that you see Eriol blush; it surprised me that I had the ability to do that.

"Then finally, after moments of silence from the both of us, he managed to blurt out really quickly that he loved me," she paused and giggled, "oh, he was so cute. He mumbled something about knowing I didn't feel the same way and I started laughing. I told him that the reason I stayed was because of him, and that I did love him." She concluded, her voice soft. She blushed slightly remembering what happened after that, that Eriol was so happy he picked her up, twirled her around and kissed her.

Sakura realized that her friend was forgetting to mention something else - especially from the blush on her face; but she kept quiet, knowing that some things were personal. "Oh Tomoyo, that's so swee - AAAAHHHHH!" Sakura's voice shrieked into the air, piercing the ears of her friends. The ground beneath her had collapsed and she fell through a hole that had appeared in the ground.

AN: Yes, I did take that bit from the episode where the sheep were trying to suffocate her. Sigh another chapter up. What'd you think? A little too boring? I thought so, but eh, I'm too lazy and tired to change anything up at this point. So, feel free to send any comments, you know I'd be happy to any of them. Thank you!


	6. A long, long history lesson

AN: Hi everyone! Wow, I didn't think so many people would like my story, I'm very flattered. I will redo the first two chapters in paragraphs for people, you'll just have to give me a little time, ok? I'm quite busy with school and - well, need I say more? Anyway, here's chapter 6, I hope you enjoy it.

Disclaimer: I do not own CCS, wish I did - or even just Syaoran, I'd be fine with him. but I don't. Sigh. How depressing.

Always & Forever

Syaoran's head whipped around at the sound of Sakura's earth-shattering scream. He rushed to where Tomoyo was kneeling on the ground, gaping soundlessly at the hole that had swallowed up Sakura. Without another thought, Syaoran jumped into the hole after Sakura. He yelled as he slid rapidly, darkness wrapping around him and he soon fell on hard solid ground. He stood up after a moment and shook his head. He looked around, seeing nothing but darkness.

"Sakura!" he yelled out her name. Silence. "Sakura, where are you?" he felt his pulse quicken; he knew he was staring to panic, if he didn't find her, he did -

"Syaoran?" A soft voice called out to him. Sakura? He thought (AN: Well, who else could it have been?). "I'm over here," She called out to him. He followed her voice in the darkness, his hands outstretched in front of him, feeling out her warm aura. Soon, after calling out to one another, he finally felt her and sighed in relief.

"Syaoran!" Gasped Sakura, who now was hugging him, cutting off his air supply. "Oh Syaoran, I was so scared!" Syaoran felt his face go red and felt the heat radiate off his face.

"Uh, Sakura," he said, feeling embarrassed. "Air." Sakura felt her face grow warm and slowly let go of him, but still stayed close to him.

"Gomen Syaoran," she told him softly, her face still feeling slightly red.

"Ii desu," Syaoran replied to her. Before anyone of them could say anything else, a bright light suddenly blinded them. Syaoran shielded both him and Sakura and slowly the light started to fade; Syaoran and Sakura looked around, finding themselves in the dim light which had formed a huge circle. Before them was a book floating in mid-air, magical power radiating off of it. Suddenly Sakura felt herself being drawn to it, she lost all her thought and didn't know what she was doing. Slowly her feet started moving towards the book.

"Sakura," Syaoran whispered in concern. Something felt oddly familiar about the magic; but he couldn't quite put his finger on it. He watched with curious eyes as Sakura walked up to it. She seems transfixed on that book, he thought.

She reached out and picked up the book - and nothing happened. It seemed as though she snapped out of her dazed expression and looked realized where she was and what she was doing. She looked at Syaoran, who just shrugged. She walked back to him with the book in her hand.

"I wonder what that was all about," she told him as she handed it over to him so he could see it. "It was so strange, I couldn't help but be drawn by it, and it was like I had no control over myself. Something about it though - seems so familiar." Syaoran looked at the book and the strange designs on it (AN: ok, it's the Clow Book, you know what it looks like, I'm not even going to try and describe it). He handed it back to her and nodded, and just as he was about to say something the book started glowing again.

Sakura looked at Syaoran, who nodded at her, then she very slowly opened the book and something started to come out from it. (AN: Yes, I do realize I'm using the first episode - what? I'm not creative!) It looked like a yellow teddy bear, except it had wings and a little tail (AN: oh, I don't know how to describe Kero - don't kill me!). Sakura stared at it, her eyebrows pushed together. Why - does it seem like I know - her thoughts got cut off as the little stuffed animal (AN: what? They don't know it's Kero) opened it's eyes. It looked from Sakura to Syaoran, and from Syaoran to Sakura. He suddenly smiled at Sakura.

"Sakura!" the little yellow bear screamed at her. Surprised by the sudden greeting, Sakura yelled as she moved back when she saw the flying bear come towards her, bumping into Syaoran. He held her study and smiled at her as she gave him a grateful smile. The little bear stopped flying towards Sakura when he saw her reaction, a bit confused. She stared at the little bear, and took a step forward.

"Uh, how did you know my name?" She asked the little flying bear. The teddy bear looked hurt, as if she had just insulted it somehow.

"Don't you remember me, Sakura?" he asked sadly. Sakura looked at Syaoran, feeling a bit guilty, then shook her head at the yellow bear. "But - it's me, Kero! We were always together! You always fed me food, can't you remember anything? When your mother fir-"

"How do you know my mother?" Sakura asked, cutting him off in the middle of his sentence. He stared at her curiously and then comprehension, neither Sakura nor Syaoran knew, spread across his small face.

"You don't remember anything, anything at all?" He asked again, looking at Sakura with curious eyes. She shook her head stubbornly at him.

"No, I don't remember you, but there is something about you that seems familiar to me," she told him. Kero was now sitting in mid-air, arms crossed and his head bowed down in though. She heard him sigh.

"Ok, sit down kid, I've got a lot to tell you," he told her. Both her and Syaoran exchanged glances and sat down obediently. "I was afraid this would happen," he muttered to himself. He drew in a deep breath. (AN: Prepare yourself, this is going to be a bit boring.)

"Ok, Sakura, this might seem strange to you, but everything that I'm about to tell you is true. A long time ago there was a very powerful family; they had many maids and servants, they lived in one of the biggest castles there was and possessed a great deal of magical power. They were very famous, everyone loved them and to have them come over to your place was a very big deal. They were known as the Kinomoto family," he paused when he heard Sakura gasp and Kero could practically feel her about to ask a few million questions.

"Hold on Sakura, let me finish the story and then you can ask all the questions later," he told her and when she nodded he continued. "Now, the Kinomoto family lived very happily and never was any problem to anyone. But because they were a powerful family, there were some people who were after them.

"See, there was this one family in particular, no one knew what the family's surname was, but they loved power. They lived all on the other side of the kingdoms, and stayed isolated from everyone. When they came to learn of the Kinomoto's power, they were immediately after them. A Great War started between the two families although the Kinomoto family didn't want to fight.

"You see, King Fujitaka and Queen Nadeshiko had two children, a boy named Touya, and a little girl named Sakura. They loved their children very much and didn't want them to get involved in any of this. They wanted their children to be happy and to live a normal life without war or violence.

"But Queen Nadeshiko knew that this was going too far. So using up all of her energy left, she transported you, your brother and your father to a different world to protect you. Unfortunately because doing such a thing requires a lot of strength, it took all of your mother's energy and power, leaving her too weak to be healed. In result, she had died to save you and your family.

"Since the Kinomoto family totally disappeared from this land, so had their power. So the enemy was left with nothing and they just disappeared as well. Some say that they left in search of the Kinomoto family but they were never heard of ever again. Now Queen Nadeshiko said that there was a chance that you might lose your memory but she didn't know.

"I was left in charge of the Clow Cards - which was left for you Sakura in case if you ever came back. They belong to you, I'm the guardian beast and I wasn't expecting to ever wake up again because only you or someone else in your family can open the book. But I sure am happy to see you again."

He paused and waited for the Sakura to say something, but Sakura was silent with her head down. Syaoran looked over at her in concern. He was silent for the entire time since the book appeared and seemed to have been forgotten. He reached out and touched Sakura's shoulder, hoping to get some sort of reaction.

"Sakura?" he asked softly. She looked up at him, tears pouring down her cheeks. Syaoran moved back a bit, greatly disturbed by this. He was so tempted to wipe away her tears but knew that would be inappropriate (AN: Inappropriate? Inappropriate? Inappropriate! Ok, I'm getting mad at the story and I'm the one writing it. something is not right here). "Are you ok?" he asked stupidly. He didn't know what was with him, whenever she was sad, he started acting really stupid and said stupid things. She nodded to him and wiped away her tears, offering him a wobbly smile, then looked at Kero.

She walked towards him and he felt sorry for her. Without warning, she pulled Kero into a tight hug, choking him to death. Behind her, Syaoran smirked and held back a laugh. Kero caught sight of this and glared angrily, or tried to since he couldn't breathe. Syaoran caught sight of the angry look and returned it with a what-are-you-going-go-do-about-it look. When Sakura finally let go of Kero, he gasped for breath as she giggled. "Gomen ne, Kero," she told him. Syaoran came and stood next to her, the worried look still on his face. "Don't worry Syaoran, I'm ok now." She reassured him. He was still worried, but smiled for her sake. He noticed that since she came he's been smiling a lot more. Kero suddenly turned towards Syaoran.

"Who are you? How do you know Sakura?" Kero asked rudely. Syaoran's eyebrows raised, giving Kero this why-do-you-care look.

"Li Syaoran of the Li Kingdom," Syaoran replied coolly, still eyeing Kero, not even bothering to answer his second question.

"How do you know Sakura, gaki?" Kero demanded of Syaoran. Syaoran felt his blood boil. Nobody had called him a gaki before, aside for sometimes his sisters.

"What's it to you, stuffed animal?" Syaoran replied his voice more icy this time. Kero started to fume and both of them stared at each other in a heated glaring contest, and Sakura, feeling the tension between the two decided to break it up.

"I dare you to say that again!" Kero yelled at Syaoran. Syaoran smirked at him

"Ok, stuffed animal," He said again.

"So, how do I use this?" Sakura asked Kero, interfering in their little fight, who was having a hard time breaking his stare at Syaoran. Finally and reluctantly Kero turned away and stared at Sakura.

"Well, see this is the Clow book, made by Clow Reed. Because it belonged to your family - specifically to you Sakura, you have to change it so it becomes your book and your cards." Kero explained to her. Sakura panicked a bit.

"How do I do that?" She asked nervously, staring down at the book and the cards inside. She picked one up and observed it. Windy? She thought.

"It's really quite simple," he told her. "All you have to do is focus all your magic on the book and summon the cards. And the rest will happen on it's own." Sakura stared, a bit confused for a moment, then shrugged. Might as well give it a try, she thought. She closed her eyes and tried to focus on the Clow book. The Clow book suddenly started to shake in her hand and she opened her eyes just in time to see it turn pink. All the cards flew out of it and flew around Sakura. One by one they changed into a pink color with sparkles flying everywhere. Each card showed their true form, and bowed at Sakura - making her gasp in surprise. After bowing, they went back into their card and back into the new pink book. The book closed and glowed lightly; Sakura looked on the top and felt her eyes go wide. On the top it wrote "Sakura Cards"; she held the book close to her chest, never wanting to let it go. She then noticed something in front of her - it was a staff. It was pink and on the top was a star with a circle around it and little wings to the side. She reached out to touch it, and when she grabbed it, all her memories came rushing back to her. Her grip tightened on the staff and then she collapsed.

"Sakura!" Syaoran yelled as he rushed towards her and caught her once again before she hit the hard ground. He gently placed her head on his lap and stared at Kero, who was also flying next to him looking at Sakura with concern. "What just happened? Why did she pass out?" Kero came closer and stared at her.

"She drained all of her energy by transforming the Clow cards into Sakura cards. It really must have drained her; and I think she also remembered everything that happened before and it was overwhelming." Kero told him. Syaoran suddenly groaned.

"Oh no! I forgot about the others!" Syaoran said. He looked down at Sakura sleeping peacefully and then back up at the hole where they fell. "Maybe." he muttered under his breath, then shook his head.

"What? Speak louder!" Complained Kero.

"Don't tell me what to do, you stuffed animal," growled Syaoran, and before Kero could say anything he continued. "Do you know how to get out of here?" Kero looked up to see the long way up, suddenly he grinned. Syaoran looked at him suspiciously.

"What?" he didn't get a reply. Instead he watched in wonder and amazement as Kero's small wings suddenly grew larger and covered Kero. When the wings moved away to uncover Kero, Kero was no longer a little stuffed animal, but a large lion with huge wings. (AN: Ok, I don't have the energy to explain Ceroberus; besides, you know what he looks like.)

"Stuffed animal, huh?" Ceroberus told Syaoran, who was staring wide-eyed with his mouth open. Syaoran suddenly frowned, not really caring who Kero had turned into. "I am Keroberus, this is my true form.so go ahead, call me 'stuffed animal' again. I dare you to." Keroberus tempted. Syaoran gave Keroberus a small smile.

"Sure, stuffed animal." Syaoran said. Keroberus fumed and before he could do anything, Syaoran pointed down at Sakura, who was still sleeping on his lap. Keroberus looked angrily at Syaoran, muttering something that sounded like 'gaki'. "Ok, so is it safe for me and Sakura to ride on your back?" Syaoran asked.

"It's safe for Sakura - she is after all my Mistress, but you're a different story," Keroberus said mockingly. Syaoran gave Keroberus a death glare and gently lifted Sakura up and placed her on Keroberus. Making sure she was secure, he then got on Keroberus. He wasn't too fond of flying, but it was the only way of getting out. Keroberus started flapping his wings (AN: oh my, I just realize how ridiculous this sounds.)

"Hold on," Keroberus told them as he flew upwards. Syaoran held on tightly to Sakura, hoping she wouldn't wake up just then; but she slept peacefully with a smile on her face. Syaoran could see the light more clearly and suddenly they burst out into the sunlight, blinding them all. Keroberus landed next to the hole and Syaoran opened his eyes, which he had closed tightly before. He saw his three friends staring at him in wonder and in shock.

Keroberus stared at the three faces in front of him, and stared curiously at Eriol's face. Suddenly he burst out in a smile. "Clow Reed!" He yelled at Eriol and would have leaped on him if Sakura were not on him. Eriol looked at the massive beast in front of him curiously as well. The creature in front of him looked oddly familiar, and the name Clow Reed struck a cord. Eriol walked up to Keroberus and stared at him and Keroberus stared back. Eriol reached out and touched Ceroberus and suddenly a million memories burst through him and he stepped back, holding his head. Tomoyo rushed over to him, and held him study.

Syaoran on the other hand lifted Sakura off of Keroberus and Meilin, seeing this, laid out a blanket so Syaoran could place her on it. Syaoran, seeing what Meilin was doing, he put Sakura down and turned to Meilin. "Thanks Meilin," he told her. She just nodded and looked back at what was going on between Keroberus and Eriol. Eriol had regained his composure and stared at Sakura. No wonder she seemed so familiar, Eriol thought. He turned and smiled back at Keroberus.

"Nice to see you again," He told him. Keroberus changed back into Kero, surprising everyone except Eriol and Syaoran. Everyone looked at Eriol in confusion, but Eriol just smiled. Eriol told them what happened while they sat down and had lunch; and after hearing the long story they decided they would continue tomorrow, besides - Sakura hadn't awaken yet. Soon night came and everyone had set up their tents and was sleeping.

AN: Yup, now they know about Clow Reed and his guardian beasts and stuff like that.uh, don't ask me where Yue, Ruby and Spinnel - is that how you spell his name? - are, cause I don't know. Ok, there you have it, end of chapter 6. Kinda boring, but eh, nothing I can do about it. well yeah, but I'm way too lazy. Shrugs. Anyhow, please review, you know I love to hear what you have to say about this half-witted story. Thanks!


	7. It's off

AN: Hey everyone, so sorry I didn't update sooner. In any case, I have chapter 7 right here, and it may be a bit short and I also apologize for that, but I put up chapter 8 as well, so you get two chapters. I hope you like this, although I must admit, it isn't the best I've written, but eh, hope you like it anyway.

Disclaimer: Sigh, I do not own CCS, you can sue me, but you won't get much. I'm poorer beyond poor.

Always & Forever

Syaoran stared up at the stars, wondering if he would see another shooting star. He heard someone walking towards him and turned around to see who it was. "Meilin, what are you doing up?" He asked, wondering why she was still awake. She sat down beside him and stared up at the stars as well.

"Couldn't sleep," She replied. He stared at her curiously, knowing that something was wrong - but decided he would ask her a little later. He returned his gaze to the stars, just like her. "Syaoran." She started, her gaze never leaving the stars. He turned back to look at her.

"Yeah?" You can do this, Meilin, she told herself.

"I'm calling off our engagement," she finally managed to say. Syaoran stared at his cousin in surprise. He wondered for a second if this person next to him really was his cousin.

"What?" He said, his fiery amber eyes staring hard at her. She swallowed hard; this was tougher than she thought it would be.

"I'm calling off our engagement," she repeated. He opened his mouth but she cut him off. "Listen Syaoran, I've thought about this for - a very long time. I know that you never loved me, but I still hoped that once we were married that you would." She paused, feeling the tears. "But I know that won't happen." She whispered. Syaoran remained silent for a while. Meilin shut her eyes tight. "I know that won't happen because not only have you never loved me, but now you're in love with someone else." She told him, her voice shaking.

"What?" Syaoran said in surprise for the second time. He still didn't fully understand what was going on. Meilin sighed and finally looked at him. He was no longer her fiancé, but that was ok. He was still her cousin and her friend.

"Syaoran, both you and I know that you're in love with Sakura," she told him. He looked at her shocked, his face turning red. He opened his mouth but she held up her hand. "Please don't say 'what' one more time. Ever since she arrived you've been gaga around her, you've changed. You're smiling more often, you're not as cold anymore, you've even laughed around her," her voice went soft. "I've spent my entire life trying to make you laugh Syaoran, but I couldn't do it. Then she came and on the second day she managed to make you laugh, and she's made you smile more times in a day than I could ever get you to in a week. I've seen the way you act around her; you're in love with her. Why else would we be on this stupid trip in the first place?"

Syaoran remained silent. He didn't know what to say, a million thoughts were running through his head. (AN: Don't kill me for this) He put his arm around Meilin and she looked up at him confused. He never did anything like this - especially to her. He smiled at her and suddenly, she didn't feel all that bad. He's happy, that's all that matters, she told herself. Still, she felt a tear roll down her cheek.

"Meilin, you're wrong you know." He told her. (AN: Don't freak out just yet. Let him finish) "I do love you. Not the way you want me to, not the way that you love me; but I do love you. You're my cousin Meilin, you've always been there for me and I - I never let you know that I appreciate you. And I'm always going to be there for you, don't forget that." That did it. She burst into tears and didn't stop crying, and Syaoran was there, just holding onto her.

Sakura finally woke up. She looked around to find herself inside her tent. Tomoyo was sleeping next to her and she looked around for Meilin, but she wasn't inside the tent. Sakura yawned and stretched; she hadn't had that much sleep in a long time. She wondered how she got out of the hole she fell in, but she couldn't remember anything.

She decided she would go find Meilin, she knew that it was late in the night. She couldn't believe that she had slept that much. Quietly, so she wouldn't wake up Tomoyo, she got up and came outside of her tent, wondering where Meilin was. She wondered why Meilin hadn't come to sleep yet, she was usually in the tent by now. She looked around and found Meilin and Syaoran sitting next to each other. Sakura stopped in her tracks. Syaoran had his arms around Meilin and Meilin was clinging onto him.

She just stared at them, paralyzed. She felt something go through her; it felt like pain - but why would this hurt so much? Better yet, why would she feel hurt by seeing this? Meilin is after all his fiancée, she reminded herself. Suddenly, she felt herself walking back to her tent. She was surprised that she was so calm, but the tears that were threatening to fall surprised her. She walked back into her tent silently, and sat down in her sleeping bag. She didn't do anything, nothing at all - just sat there trying to figure out why she felt that way.

She was so lost in thought she didn't notice the hot tears that slowly went down her cheek one by one; nor did she notice that Tomoyo had gotten up, wondering who was in their tent sitting up like that. Tomoyo noticed it was Sakura and relaxed a bit, but got all tense again when she saw that Sakura was crying. Sakura didn't seem to notice that Tomoyo had awakened and was sitting next to her. Tomoyo gently laid her hand on Sakura's shoulder and startled, Sakura turned to look at her.

"Sakura, what's wrong?" Tomoyo asked, her voice full of concern. Sakura looked at Tomoyo, her green eyes full of tears. She remained silent for a while, not saying anything. Tomoyo sighed; she would wait of course, for Sakura to calm down. "Whenever you feel like talking, I'm here. But I'm not going back to sleep until you do tell me what's wrong," She told her. Sakura nodded and drew in a shaky breath.

"Oh Tomoyo! I'm so confused, I don't even know why I'm crying!" exclaimed Sakura. Tomoyo just stared at her friend, a little confused. "I just woke up and went looking for Meilin and I went outside," she started to explain then paused.

"And..." Tomoyo gently urged her to continue.

"And I saw her there with Syaoran!" Sakura blurted out before crying once more. "Syaoran had his arms around her and -" She just couldn't go on after that. "And I don't know why I'm so upset by it, she is after all his fiancée." Tomoyo stared wide-eyed at Sakura. She thought Sakura was crying because she missed her family, but this - this was surprising. Tomoyo had a sudden urge to giggle but pretended to cough instead it. Poor Sakura, she thought, and as much as Tomoyo tried, she couldn't help but giggled. Sakura looked at her friend.

"Hoe?"

"Oh Sakura," Tomoyo said, still giggling. "Did you even think why you might be acting this way?" Sakura nodded her head. "And you still can't figure out why?" This time Sakura shook her head and in result earned another giggle from Tomoyo. "Did you think that maybe, just maybe - you like Syaoran in a more than friendly way?" Sakura turned different shades of red and was extremely thankful it was dark out. Before she could reply or do anything, Meilin came back into the tent. Sakura looked away, quickly drying her tears as Tomoyo gave Meilin a smile.

"Oh, hey guys," Meilin said, "I didn't know you were both up." Sakura nodded at Meilin. "Oh well, I'm tired so I'll talk to you guys in the morning. Good night."

"Good night," Tomoyo replied as she herself went back under her covers and back to sleep. I hope Sakura will be ok, she thought as she drifted back into a peaceful sleep.

"Good night," Sakura mumbled as she pretended to yawn. She closed her eyes for a moment and opened them again, sighing as quietly as she could. She tossed and turned but finally gave up; she knew it was impossible to fall asleep now, especially with the conversation she just had replaying in her mind over and over again. She listened to her friends' soft snores, smiling just slightly. Making up her mind, she slowly and quietly got up and stepped outside of the tent.

At first she gladly welcomed the cool breeze, but she soon grew cold. She looked around and saw that the fire was still burning. Curious, she walked towards the fire wondering who was still up and stopped in her tracks.

AN: That's it, that's chapter 7. I know, a lot shorter than the rest… my apologies, I'm lazy. Suffering from writer's block? Don't know. Like it, didn't like it. you can always tell me if you'd like. hint, hint. Geez, as if I couldn't be more obvious, I do suck at cliffhangers. Shrugs Onto the next chapter!


	8. Dancing under the moonlight

AN: Hello again, you must be sick of my little notes, but you can choose to ignore them if you like. Anyway, here's chapter 8, read it, and then please review to tell me what you think. Thanks!

Disclaimer: I do not, I repeat, do NOT own CCS, CLAMP does. End of discussion.

Always & Forever

Syaoran's head snapped up as he heard someone coming and was shocked to find the emerald-eyed girl there. He immediately stood up, but neither one of them said anything to each other, both of them just turned a light pink, but their stare never wavered. "Sakura, what are you doing here?" He asked her, breaking the silence that surrounded them. At first she didn't reply, she seemed hesitant and right away he knew something was wrong.

"Um, am I bothering you? If I am, I'll just leave," she said as she started to turn back around.

"No, that's ok. I'm just a little surprised that's all. I thought I'd be the only one awake," he told her as he walked a bit closer to her. She had avoided his question, he knew that - but he brushed it aside. Something is wrong, something is definitely wrong, he thought. "Are you ok?" he asked cautiously. Sakura smiled and nodded, but he could tell it was a fake smile. He wanted to know what was wrong, but he wouldn't push her. He saw her shiver.

"Come by the fire and warm up," he told her as he walked back and sat down. She hesitated at first, but then followed him. She sat down next to him and felt the warmth of the fire wash over her. She felt something go around her and looked in surprise as Syaoran put a blanket around her.

"Arigatou, Syaoran," she told him softly. He gave her another one of his rare smiles and she swallowed hard. "I didn't expect anyone else to be up this late either, just to let you know. I just wanted to get some fresh air, clear my head a bit. I have been sleeping for a long time." She added in quietly. Syaoran just nodded.

"Do you want me to leave?" he asked this time. Sakura shook her head.

"No, that's alright. I don't mind, I - enjoy your company. I mean, you're a good friend." She said as Syaoran blushed and concentrated on the fire while Sakura's thoughts wandered back to the conversation she had with Tomoyo. Was it true? No, it couldn't be. but why else would I feel this way? Oh, I'm so confused! She looked over at Syaoran, who was still staring into the fire. The fire was somehow in his eyes, a soft glow showered his face and then something happened that Sakura couldn't explain. It was as if her heart missed a beat and she felt her eyes widen.

What just happened? Why am I feeling this way? I mean, I never enjoyed spending this much time with Agnes. When Syaoran smiles, it seems like he's smiling especially for me.Did Agnes ever make me feel special the way Syaoran does? Did Agnes ever get my cheeks to go red every time I saw him, like I do with Syaoran? Did Agnes ever rescue me, like Syaoran has? Did I really feel safe with Agnes every time I was around him, like the way I feel completely safe when I'm around Syaoran? Did I even feel this way when I'm around Agnes?

"No. I didn't." Sakura muttered softly to herself. Syaoran looked up at her.

"What?" He asked. Startled, Sakura looked at him, turning red.

"Uh, nothing! Just mumbling to myself!" she said very quickly, giggling nervously. Syaoran looked at her strangely for a moment, then looked away. Sakura sighed in relief and was once more in thought. Her thoughts, which were confused a few moments ago, were now extremely clear to her. She stared self-consciously at the stars and the moon in the sky. (AN: I realize this is a bit different. you know how Sakura's really dense, she's not suppose to know she likes him just yet.well, I know I changed it around, but oh well.J)

Syaoran looked over at Sakura; he could tell she had been crying, but he couldn't say anything right at that moment, even if he wanted to. He found it too hard to move or to tear his gaze away from the tenshi in front of him, so he didn't; he just started at her, the humble look on her face. The moon glowing softly on her silky hair and her skin, and it seemed the stars themselves were trapped in her bright green eyes. He saw a small smile appear on her lips and the whole picture was complete, absolutely perfect.

Sakura turned her head to take a quick glance at Syaoran but was surprised to find him staring at her. Once again both of them held each other's gaze until Syaoran looked away first, turning red. He was too busy blushing to notice that Sakura had also turned red. He coughed and scratched his head. "Uh, I noticed you don't know how to curtsey properly," he mentioned to her. "Not that you did it wrong or anything," he said quickly, turning more red. Sakura just giggled.

"It's ok Syaoran," she told him, a soft smile on her lips. "Did you want to teach me?" she teased him. She suddenly imagined Syaoran showing her how to curtsey and burst into giggles while Syaoran just stared at her. (AN: Would be kinda funny, don't you think? Syaoran curtseying.) He swallowed.

"Well.if you want me too." he muttered. Sakura stopped laughing and looked at him. "Ok then. First of all you can't curtsey if you're sitting down, so stand up." He instructed her. For a moment she just stared at him in disbelief, before a small smile appeared on her lips and she rose.

"Ok, what now?" She asked him. He told her what to do and what she shouldn't be doing, and after all the laughing and fooling around, and after the practice she did, she actually could do it perfectly. (AN: Hey, I bet I couldn't do a curtsey if my life depended on it)

"There, now you know how to curtsey," He said, tired of teaching her how to curtsey, although it was pretty funny. He sat back down while Sakura remained standing. He suddenly looked up at her curiously. She stared back just as curiously wondering what he was thinking about. "Please tell me you know how to dance." he said. Sakura felt her eyes widen.

"Hoe?" She said breathlessly. Syaoran groaned as he closed his eyes and titled his head back. This wasn't good; this wasn't good at all. How was he suppose to get over her when he was spending all this time with her? The thought of dancing with her crossed his mind and he felt the heat rise to his face.he didn't want to be that close to her.or did he? He shook his head and stared back at Sakura hoping she wasn't watching, but she seemed to be lost in her own thoughts. He sighed heavily.

"Ok," he mumbled and slowly got up. Sakura looked at him in surprise. What is he doing? She thought. He came and stood in front of her, and she felt her pulse quicken. What is he doing? She thought again for the second time. "Do you know how to slow dance?" he asked, and she blushed and shook her head and she heard him sigh again. She swallowed. "You're going to have to imagine music is playing." He told her.

She stared at him. Surely he wasn't serious about teaching her how to dance. She saw his face go red as he tried to say something. She looked closely at him, wondering if he was choking. "Syaoran, are you all right?" she asked him, getting a bit worried.

"No - no, I'm fine," he mumbled again. "Um." he mumbled a few more words, but Sakura didn't catch it because he was talking so quietly. She leaned in closer to try and hear him. He's saying something about hands.she thought. She saw him get frustrated and she leaned back this time; he seemed to be angry with himself. Then the surprising part came. He held her left hand and put her right hand on his shoulder and he put his right hand on her waist.

Sakura turned ten different shades of red. No wonder he turned red, he was probably as embarrassed as she was right now, and she couldn't even look at him. She didn't notice that he had also turned ten different shades of red as well. She heard him cough once again. "Uh Sakura, if you don't want to do this, you don't have to," he told her. She looked at him and saw this time how red his face was. She shook her head while giggling at how funny and cute he looked. Hoe? Cute? She thought in bewilderment. Syaoran looked at her, confused. "What's so funny?" he asked, his voice getting back its edge.

"It's nothing.it's just that you're so red," she told him still giggling. (AN: She likes to giggle, doesn't she?) He went redder, but seemed to get a bit upset at that and she stopped giggling and swallowed.

"I'm not the only one," he muttered, and it was her turn to go red. "Ok, now first you're going to take a step back and I'm going to take a step forward," he told her as she nodded. They started off ok, but then Sakura kept stepping on his feet and apologizing to him. After a while she got the hang of it and both of them kept dancing. Sakura looked up, her eyes as bright as her smile.

"Look! I'm doing it!" she told him excitedly. He smiled back at her, pleased knowing that she was happy. She suddenly frowned as they continued to dance. "Wait, why did you teach me to dance?" she asked him.

"You know how we're suppose to stay at Prince Yukito's palace? Well, I forgot to mention that he's always throwing balls.he has one every night. I have to wonder if he ever gets tired of them," Syaoran told her, "but then again.there is all that food and he wouldn't ever get tired of that."

"Oh," Sakura said, nodding slowly to herself. That made sense, she thought. Then why do I wish that Prince Yukito wasn't throwing a ball that Syaoran just wanted to teach me to dance.

"Is something wrong?" Syaoran asked as he looked down at her. She shook her head and gave him another smile. "Are you sure?" he asked again, knowing that she wasn't telling him something. She smiled yet again. She sure is stubborn, Syaoran thought and he sighed. Kinda like you.a little voice in the back of his mind told him. Shut up! He replied back to the voice when he almost stopped dancing. Was he arguing with himself? He had to get over Sakura, and soon, but how is that possible? He looked at Sakura again; she was looking at him, smiling softly. Breathe. He reminded himself once again.

AN: Alright, total mush… I am surprised! I didn't know I had it in me, I don't usually do the whole romance thing, so yay me! Next chapter up soon, remember to review, thank you!


	9. Ghosts? Nope not even close!

AN: Hey everyone! Thanks so much for your reviews! You love me, you really love me! Wipes away tear I would do one of those 'if you want another chapter, I need at least 5 reviews,' but honestly, I'll put up my chapters anyway even if you didn't like it! In any case, enough of my little nonsense, here's chapter 9 - chapter 9? I'm already on chapter 9? And yes, this chapter was an idea from my best friend who dared me, and I must admit – I had a really really hard time…really hard time writing it. So… on with the story? Turns red

Disclaimer: I do not own CCS, how many times have I said that? Don't you get the picture yet? I don't own it! Stop bothering me!

Always & Forever

"Oho, look at them Eriol! How kawaii!" Tomoyo squealed in the dark. Eriol grinned at his cute little descendent and the emerald-eyed girl as they danced in the moonlight.

"Now if only they weren't so dense to realize that they love one another," Eriol replied to Tomoyo. Tomoyo nodded her head in agreement, her eyes never leaving the two dancing. "You know what I miss?" she asked Eriol. Eriol looked at her and shook his head, hoping that Tomoyo wouldn't get sad and hating the fact she had to miss anything.

"I miss having my camcorder!" Eriol sweatdropped. "Perhaps we should leave them alone?" Eriol suggested dryly and that got Tomoyo to look away.

"Ok, who are you and what have you done with my Eriol?" She asked the man grinning in front of her. "My Eriol would never suggest something like that.he's too evil."

"Like yourself?" Eriol asked her, slightly amused as to how she called him 'her Eriol'. Tomoyo giggled at that softly in the night. "Shhh, you don't want us to get caught, now do you?" He said putting a finger to her lips. She shook her head, smiling extremely sweetly at him.

"Couldn't you do something? Just for the fun of it?" Tomoyo asked him, her sweet smile suddenly turned very evil. Eriol raised his eyebrows in surprise.

"What exactly do you have in mind?" He asked her. She leaned closer to him and whispered into his ear what her plan was. He laughed out loud forgetting that they were suppose to be hiding and Tomoyo quickly pressed her hand over his mouth. They both looked alarmingly over at the couple dancing but they didn't notice anything.

"You must learn to be more quiet, Eriol," Tomoyo told him teasingly as she removed her hand. Eriol grabbed her hand and pulled her closer to him.

"Really? I'm sorry but your plan was just too perfect and I had to laugh," he murmured in her ear. Tomoyo felt herself blush.

"So you'll do it?" She asked him, feeling herself drown in his sapphire eyes that twinkled like the stars.

"I would do anything for you," he replied before he kissed her.

Sakura was the first to stop dancing; both of them had both lost track of time and didn't realize that they were still dancing with each other, not that either one of them minded very much. Syaoran looked at her confused for a moment then realized that she must have wanted to stop, they had been dancing for a while. But Sakura just stopped and it looked like she was listening to something

"Syaoran," she whispered to him, "do you hear that?" she asked him. He focused on listening and at first he heard nothing but the fire crackling, but then he heard it. He looked back at Sakura, who looked frightened. "What do you think it is? I-is-s it a-a-a g-ghost?" she whispered to him. Syaoran looked towards where the sound was coming from.

"Ok, I'm gonna go check out what it is," and started to leave but Sakura grabbed his arm and he looked back at her in surprise, feeling his cheeks go slightly pink.

"Don't leave me here by myself," she told him softly. "If you're going, I'm going. I don't want to be left here alone, what if a ghost came - then what would I do?" she asked him, her voice still soft.

"You don't have to worry, Sakura," Syaoran told her, his voice just as soft as hers and a small smile on his lips. "I'll protect you no matter what." Sakura looked at him for a moment, trying to make sense of what he said as he did the same thing. He looked shocked - he didn't expect to say that either. They held each other's gaze, and finally Sakura smiled.

"Arigatou Syaoran," she told him, not realizing that she was still holding onto his hand.

"If you still don't want to stay alone then you can come with me, but that's only if you want," he told her. He didn't like the idea of leaving her by herself either - but he didn't want her to get hurt if she came with him. She nodded eagerly and Syaoran turned back around and started walking towards the trees. "Be quiet, ok?" he whispered to her, and she nodded.

They both walked silently through the trees. Sakura looked around thinking that everything looked a lot scarier now, but she didn't feel afraid that something might happen to her. She felt safe, she knew that Syaoran would protect her and that's when she noticed that she was still holding onto his hand. He hadn't let go of her hand either, even though he was in front of her - leading her, he still held onto her hand. She turned pink and looked down and decided she wouldn't say anything. Suddenly Syaoran stopped in his tracks causing Sakura to collide into him.

"Umpf," she said as she looked at him. He turned around so he could see her and he had this mischievous smile on his face. Sakura looked at him confused, why would he be smiling at such a time? "Why did you stop? Did you find the thing that was making that noise?" she whispered to him. He nodded to her.

"I think you mean, did I find the people that's making the noise," he whispered to her, still smiling evilly, while Sakura was left even more confused. He saw this and he pulled her closer to him and she felt her eyes widen. Then when she was right next to him, he had his arms around her and told her to crouch down and she did, and then he pointed to a particular tree. Sakura squinted, she couldn't make out what exactly it was; then her eyes widened once more and she felt her mouth drop. Syaoran stared at her, trying his best not to laugh. He knew what was going to happen and he was going to love every single minute of it.

"HOOOOOEEE!" Sakura nearly yelled, standing up and nearly causing Syaoran to fall. The two figures by the tree screamed and jumped back in fright while Sakura stared in disbelief at them and while Syaoran, who was now standing, was laughing his head off.

Tomoyo stared at the two figures in front of her and Eriol. There was a shocked girl with green eyes, and a boy with chocolate brown hair laughing - both of them staring at her and Eriol. Tomoyo felt the blood rise to her cheeks and looked over at Eriol, who seemed to be in just as much shock - which did seem just a bit funny.

"Having fun?" Syaoran said mockingly to Eriol still laughing. Eriol seemed to regain his posture and stared at Syaoran, obviously annoyed. Don't worry my cute little descendent, have your fun now, your time is coming up soon then we'll see who's laughing.Eriol thought.

"Sakura, what are you doing here?" Tomoyo asked, her voice a little shocked. Sakura just stared from Tomoyo to Eriol and from Eriol to Tomoyo. Tomoyo glanced over nervously at Eriol and if she didn't know any better - she'd swore that Eriol's cheeks looked pink.

"Tomoyo!" Sakura gasped. Tomoyo turned redder at the sound of shock and surprise in her voice. "What were you guys doing?" she asked, a clueless look on her face. Syaoran looked at her and raised an eyebrow; she saw and when Tomoyo and Eriol weren't looking, she winked at him.

"What are you doing up?" Tomoyo finally managed to get out, trying her best not to stutter. Syaoran just laughed, he couldn't believe what he was seeing. It was something to see Eriol blush, but to catch him and his just as evil girlfriend making out - that was just too much.

"What are you doing up, Tomoyo?" Sakura asked innocently, her attention on Tomoyo. "I couldn't sleep, you knew that right? So I came outside to get some fresh air, clear my head and think." Sakura felt her cheeks turn a bit pink, remembering what she was thinking of, but she turned her thoughts back to Tomoyo and Eriol. "I left you sleeping, when did you get up? I thought you were really sleepy." She stared at both of them now. "How long have you two been here?" She asked, the innocence still heard in her voice and seen in her eyes.

Tomoyo put her hand behind her back casually and crossed her fingers. "I don't know how long I've been up.I woke up and I didn't see you so I went to find you. I was worried about you Sakura, I wanted to make sure you were ok and everything was alright," Tomoyo started. "I met Eriol while I was looking for you; it turns out he was looking for Syaoran as well." Syaoran grunted and turned away knowing that there was no chance ever that Eriol would ever do something like that for him. She didn't exactly lie.

"Sure. You went looking for Sakura and Eriol came looking for me and you both just happened to be there at the same time?" Syaoran stated as Tomoyo shifted from one foot to the next. Eriol seemed to be emotionless, but they all knew better than that. He was trying his utter best to just remain calm and not turn pinker. "You two seemed really worried about us a few moments ago," Syaoran added in hastily making the two people blush once more.

"Well my cute little descendent, we saw you and Sakura dancing and we figured you were fine. Which reminds me, why were you two dancing in the moonlight so late at night? Especially when Sakura stepped out to clear her head?" Eriol said, trying to counter. This time Syaoran smirked, which seemed weird - it was always the other way around.

"She need to know how to dance for Yukito's party, remember? It would be strange enough knowing that she came from another kingdom, but if she didn't know how to dance - people would start to figure out things," Syaoran said firmly and Eriol couldn't say something to that. Syaoran knew exactly what Eriol was trying to do; he was trying to change the subject of him and Tomoyo to Syaoran and Sakura and trying to embarrass the two of them.

"Uh, anyway.I'm feeling really tired now and sine you're ok now, I'm going back to sleep," Tomoyo said quickly and said goodnight and left as quickly as she could. Eriol said the same thing and soon left leaving Syaoran and Sakura alone once again. They looked at each other and suddenly broke into wicked grins. (AN: Sounds a bit strange coming from them, huh?)

"Well, that was interesting," Sakura said lightly as she turned around and walked back to the fire as Syaoran followed, slightly amused.

"Yes, it most definitely was. Especially the shocked look on your face and the embarrassed looks on their faces." He added. To him, 'interesting' was an understatement. "You did a good job of embarrassing them, I've known Eriol for a long time and this is one of the few times I've actually seen him blush." He complimented her.

"Arigatou," she replied as they both sat down once again side by side next to the fire. "At first I really was shocked; I would never expect this from Tomoyo of all people," she admitted to him; he just nodded. "But I got over it and then I just focused on them, you know - it was so funny seeing them squirm," she said giggling. Syaoran looked up at her in surprise. That's why she winked at me, he thought.

"Wow, you sure had me fooled. I honestly thought you were just innocently asking questions," he said, then smiled. "Good job," He said, complimenting her work again, and this time she just smiled and blushed.

"Yeah.maybe you could learn something huh?" she said, teasing him. "Well, it's just a little bit of payback fo -" Sakura stopped herself from speaking, feeling herself turn incredibly red, realizing what she had said - or what she was about to say. She looked at Syaoran, who just looked at her curiously. "What I mean is, um, Tomoyo used to tease me about - well, she still does." Sakura let her voice trail off, growing redder and redder. "Never mind," she muttered. She had almost spilled about Tomoyo teasing her about Syaoran twice.

"Okay." Syaoran said, eyebrows raised. Then he finally understood; Sakura was probably talking about when Tomoyo teased her about her boyfriend. Syaoran felt a sharp pain go through him, none of them noticed the silence that stretched between them; they were too busy with their own thoughts. Sakura suddenly yawned then smiled shyly.

"Sorry," she said. "I think it's about time I went back to bed." Syaoran nodded, looking back at the tents and grinned once again.

"Do you think they're actually back in their tents?" he asked her. She looked at the tents as well then looked back at Syaoran.

"Nah, I don't think they're going to try and meet up again unless they want us to find them again," she commented. She got up and started walking back to the tent when she stopped and turned around, staring at him. He looked up at her. "Arigatou Syaoran," she said softly.

"For what?" he asked, confused.

"For tonight," she replied. "I came out tonight not feeling so great and you helped cheer me up. Plus you taught me how to curtsey and dance; and how could I possibly forget how much fun I had teasing Eriol and Tomoyo. So that you, it was fun," she said, feeling quite shy. Syaoran shook his head.

"I didn't do anything," he told her, then he shrugged. "But hey, you're welcome. It was fun, thanks for the company. We should do this again sometime." She smiled and nodded.

"Good night Syaoran," she told him and turned and walked back inside her tent.

"Good night," he whispered to her, his eyes still on the tent. Who am I fooling, how could I possibly have thought there was a way for me to get over her? Come on, admit it - you had lots of fun tonight, more than you have had in a long, long time.he thought. He sighed heavily in defeat. This is great, no matter how much I convince myself it always comes back to the same thing.how hopelessly in love I am with Sakura.

AN: There you have it folks, chapter 9. Now, I ended up giving you 3 chapters, so I think you should at least review. I mean, you don't necessarily have to if you don't want to, but you know I love all reviews. And yes, Tomoyo and Eriol were just making out - nothing more you hentai thinkers out there - come on and get your mind out of the gutter. Yup, so any ideas on what should happen next? Any comments? Any way I should improve on this story? I'd be more than happy to accept any help on this. Thanks!


	10. Legends, Arguments and the Storm

AN: Hey everyone! I'm soooooooooooooooo sorry for not updating. to tell you the truth I've been extremely busy and in really small voice a bit lazy. ok not a bit - a lot. but you forgive me right? Right? looks around for fans Wait - is that one? Oh. It's just a janitor or something. once again, many many apologies for not updating sooner. On with the story!

Disclaimer: I do not own CCS. slow and painful torture every time I have to say it. what do you want from me?

Always & Forever

Legends, Arguments and the Storm

"Ouuu, it's so pretty!" exclaimed Sakura; her eyes opened wide in wonder and excitement as she gazed out at the sparkling water. The group of friends had finally gotten out of Sherblue woods and was now crossing the Tenshi Lake.

"Careful, you don't want to fall in, now do you?" Syaoran told her. She was leaning over the banister and although she looked absolutely adorable, he still felt nervous that she was leaning over so much. Beside Sakura stood Meilin and on her other side was Tomoyo. Syaoran stood next to Meilin and Eriol next to Tomoyo. Sakura turned to Meilin, a childlike look in her emerald eyes.

"Meilin, why is it called the Tenshi Lake?" Sakura asked. Meilin's eyes seemed to falter just a little. Sakura got confused. "Gomen ne, did I say something wrong?" Sakura asked, getting a bit worried.

"No, you didn't say anything wrong," Meilin said, her voice betraying her words. She looked at Sakura. "I just don't feel all that great, I think because we're on the ship and all." Meilin mumbled quietly. "I think I'm going to go inside and rest for a while." With that she left and Syaoran looked at her, he wanted to go after her but knew that wouldn't be a good idea. Sakura saw the concerned look on his face, and she heard Tomoyo sigh. What aren't they telling me.she thought.

"Would you like to know what happened?" Syaoran suddenly asked, turning back to the water, his eyes focused on it. Sakura nodded and waited for him to continue. "There's a legend about this lake. There was this couple, a girl named Kari and a guy named T.K. (AN: Hehehe, I know, I know, I totally suck but oh well.) and they were completely in love with one another. They had left their families to be together; they were on a ship crossing this exactly Lake. At the time the Lake didn't have a name.

"One night, T.K. and Kari were outside on the deck talking when they noticed the weather. It seemed like there was going to be a storm and they were right; it was as if some powerful force of magic caused this storm. It hard and fast and they started walking back inside - or trying to anyway. They were trying to get to safety when a huge wave hit the ship and Kari fell into the raging water, and she couldn't even swim so the angry waves didn't make it any better for her. Without a moment's hesitation, T.K. was in the water trying to save her. She was knocked out unconscious.

"When she woke up she found herself in a room with many strange faces staring at her. She looked around for T.K., hoping to find his familiar face but she couldn't find him. She demanded to know where he was, and when she mentioned his name a few of the people started crying. One woman came and sat down next to Kari. She explained to her that when T.K. had gone in the water after Kari, he had managed to save her, but . he didn't survive.

"Kari was - there was no way to describe it. She couldn't believe it and ran out of the room onto the deck. It's said that when she did, the sun started shining so brightly and them she smiled. She then jumped over the railing into the water. The other people on the ship swore that they saw the happy couple together shining in the light, and they heard T.K. call Kari 'Tenshi', which he had always called her." Syaoran stopped and looked at the others. Sakura looked so sad, her eyes full of tears; same with Tomoyo. Tomoyo looked up at Eriol and suddenly hugged him tightly, and he hugged her back just as tight.

Sakura sniffed and looked at her friend and suddenly felt even worst. She wanted to be held like that.but knew better than to expect that. She suddenly left without saying a single word to anyone and ran off somewhere on the other side of the deck. She ran and finally stopped in a deserted area and managed to calm herself down.

"Sakura!" she heard someone call out her name. She shook her head, thinking that she was just imaging who just called her. "Sakura!" Came the voice again. She looked up to see Syaoran coming towards her, a worried expression on his face.

"Syaoran? What are you doing here?" She asked him, confused.

"I came to see if you were all right," he told her. He stood in front of her and she looked down. She didn't know it would be this hard to not look at him. it hurt so much. And if she did look at him it would still hurt.

"I'm ok now." She told him softly, still not looking at him. "It was just such a sad story," she told him.

"It is, but they ended up being together in the end, didn't they?" he told her. She looked up at his face and immediately at once got lost in his amber eyes. Syaoran stood there mesmerized, just staring at her; the way her hair flew across her face when the salty wind blew and it took every bit of strength he had to not reach out and move the few strands of hair that were there.

"Yes, they did," she said softly, her gaze never leaving his. How can she get me to be like this? He asked himself.

"Syaoran!" someone called him. At once their gaze broke and they both looked in the direction of the person calling. He didn't want to leave, especially when she was like this, but he had to.

"Are you going to be ok?" He asked her, still worried. Sakura nodded her head and gave him a smile, not trusting her voice at the moment. He hesitated for a moment, and then he turned and hurried towards the person who was calling him. Sakura turned back and stared towards the rippling water.

"Sakura?" A voice called out to her. She turned around and was surprised to see Meilin there.

"Meilin?" Sakura said, a bit startled. "What are you doing here? I thought you were sick and weren't feeling well." Meilin smiled slightly at how dense her friend was (AN: not in a bad way or anything just to let you know). Meilin said nothing but she walked and stood next to Sakura.

"It's pretty, isn't it?" Meilin said, half dazed. Sakura looked at her and nodded, a bit worried about her friend's reaction. "You know, Syaoran and I were suppose to be on a cruise crossing this Lake for our honeymoon." Meilin said quietly, her gaze never leaving the water.

"Hoe?" Sakura said unexpectedly. She had forgotten that Meilin and Syaoran were to get married. Then she noticed something else. "What do you mean, 'suppose'?" She asked. Meilin looked at Sakura, her smile sad.

"I called off our engagement," Meilin said softly, tears filling her eyes. Sakura felt sympathetic towards her and put her arm around the girl, but she couldn't shake off the feeling of hope that had suddenly grown inside her.

"But why?" Sakura asked and Meilin actually giggled, leaving Sakura very confused.

"Because he didn't love me the way I loved him," she replied. "He's in love with someone else." Sakura was shocked and when Meilin saw this, she hid a smile. Sakura felt her newfound hope disappear slowly.

"Who?" Sakura found herself asking, then turned red.

"I don't think I should tell you, I don't want Syaoran to get mad at me," Meilin told her. "But believe me, I really, really would like to tell you." Sakura smiled at her friend warmly.

"That's ok, I'm sure that Syaoran wouldn't like the idea of you telling me either, although it would have been fun to tease him about the girl he likes," Sakura said giggling, Meilin along with her. If you only knew how much fun, Meilin thought still laughing. "Are you ok though?" Sakura asked her seriously. Meilin shrugged.

"I'll be ok, it's just really hard, you know. Part of me knew that he never really would love me, but once he's happy I'm happy," she explained. Sakura nodded, not knowing what to say about what Meilin had said.

"Don't worry, Meilin, you'll find someone," Sakura told her. "What you did was a very brave and noble thing. You should be proud of yourself." Meilin smiled fully at her friend, feeling a bit better knowing she had done the right thing. Meilin looked behind Sakura as she heard footsteps coming towards them and wasn't surprised to see Syaoran with a worried look on his face. Sakura looked back to find him there and smiled at him. Syaoran looked from Meilin to Sakura and Sakura to Meilin.

"Uh, am I interrupting something?" he asked slowly. Meilin shook her head. "No, you weren't. But maybe we should get back to the Tomoyo and Eriol before they freak out," Meilin suggested, and as she said that both Syaoran and Sakura started sniggering. "What?" Meilin asked confused.

"Oh, its just that maybe we shouldn't go back just yet," Sakura said, now giggling wildly.

"They might be enjoying their time together, we wouldn't want to intrude or anything," Syaoran said, and when they looked at each other - they both started laughing. Meilin shook her head, still with a confused look on her face.

"I don't wanna know," She said as they all walked inside to get something to eat and Syaoran and Sakura still laughing. Sakura stopped in her tracks and groaned. "Hoe! I forgot to get Kero some food - he's gonna kill me!" she said as she ran back to her room leaving Syaoran and Meilin together.

"Did you tell her yet?" Meilin asked Syaoran making him turn bright red. "No," he grumbled. Meilin sighed and rolled her eyes.

"I'd hurry up if I were you," she said suddenly. He looked at her, a bit alarmed and his eyes questioning. "There are other guys in this world and she is very pretty, so don't wait too long." She added. Syaoran followed her gaze and felt his temperature rise. There was this guy who was flirting with Sakura, making her laugh. His Sakura. He found himself walking towards them and Sakura looked surprised to see him there, and a bit scared because of the look he had on his face. He glared angrily at the guy in front of her (AN: love his death stare.didn't I already say that?).

"I thought you were going to your room, Sakura," he said coldly, his eyes never leaving the guy. The guy gulped and said something about having to leave and left as quickly as he could.

"Why did you do that for?" Sakura said, sounding a bit annoyed. She enjoyed talking to that guy, he was very funny. Syaoran looked at her in surprise. "The guy was flirting with you!" He said, his voice mixed with shock and anger. Sakura looked at him strangely.

"No, we were just talking," she told him. "And why should that bother you anyway?" She added lowly under her breath thinking about how he loved another girl, then she realized what she had just said. She shouldn't have gotten angry over something like that, was she - jealous? She resisted the urge to shake her head, that was impossible, to be jealous of some girl she didn't know. She also didn't know that he heard.

"You know what, you're right. I shouldn't even care, you can certainly look after yourself." He replied his voice icy and he turned and left her there, shocked and a bit hurt all by herself.

"Wow, it's suddenly very cold," Tomoyo said shivering. Eriol put his arms around her, as Tomoyo gave him a grateful smile. They were both outside staring up into the dark blue sky. After Syaoran had left them to chase after Sakura they both went to get to get something to eat; that's when they met up with not only Sakura and Syaoran, but also Meilin who seemed happier. But they couldn't say the same for Sakura and Syaoran; they spent the whole afternoon not saying a single word to each other. Both of them were miserable, but they didn't notice that about each other. They spent the rest of the day together and after the sun had gone down they split up again.

"Do you think Sakura's ok?" Tomoyo asked suddenly, breaking the comforting silence that surrounded her and Eriol. Eriol sighed and thought for a second.

"I'm sure she'll be ok. We don't even know what happened, maybe it was just a misunderstanding." He replied to her.

"I know," she said sighing. "But it's not like Sakura to not say anything to anyone for a whole afternoon, especially if she likes him." Tomoyo paused and turned red; she had just left out her friends' secret. Eriol chuckled into her ear.

"It's quite obvious to everyone that they like each other - except for them," was all he said and she felt herself relax.

"I just hope that those two are going to be all right. I hate to see them this way," she said. "I know Sakura, whenever she's been in a situation where she had an argument with someone, she's always the first to talk to that person and settle it out. It's a bit strange she didn't go and talk to Syaoran right away to clear this."

"Don't worry about them, they'll be fine." Eriol said and that was the last thing they said to each other. That is - until they got interrupted by a person passing by.

"Um, I - oh, dear, I-, um, I'm sorry," the person mumbled to Tomoyo and Eriol. They turned towards the person who seemed quite embarrassed and they themselves turned red. "But the captain said that all passengers should get inside, there's a storm coming and all passengers will be safer inside." They nodded to the person and left the deck.

Sakura wondered around outside, wishing that she had brought her jacket with her. She didn't notice that the wind was lashing out, whipping her, the dark clouds, the thunder and lightning, or the angry waves hitting harshly against the ship, rocking it. She walked around with her dress moving with her. Ever since they had gotten out of the woods, Tomoyo suggested she wear skirts and dresses like the rest of the girls or she might start something, so she agreed. But her thoughts only on Syaoran and the argument they had earlier which had hurt her. She knew she had said something to offend him, but now he was ignoring her and pretending she wasn't there.

Suddenly the ship rocked deeply, causing her to crash into the railing and hurting her waist. She cried out in pain and for once noticed her surroundings; what the weather was like and that no one else was outside except for her. She felt her eyes widen in fear as saw the waves and she scrambled to get inside, tripping every now and then on her dress. Oh, stupid, stupid dress! She thought frantically.

Syaoran looked around, spotting different faces and heads but he still didn't see the bright emerald eyes he had been searching for. He saw Tomoyo, Eriol and Meilin coming towards him, each of their faces baring the same expression. He stared at their worried and frightened faces, and felt himself getting really tense.

"Syaoran," Tomoyo said, her voice strained and her violet eyes holding back tears. "We can't find Sakura anywhere! I don't know where she is. Did you see her anywhere?" Syaoran felt fear grow inside of him. "After we split up we figured she was with you and Meilin, but we found Meilin and she told us that you guys split up afterwards too. I'm so worried, we searched everywhere, but we still couldn't find her and I hope she isn't outside." Tomoyo's voice trembled with fear as she looked out one of the small windows to find the gloomy storm. The ship rocked violently making everyone fall down on his or her sides. Syaoran didn't wait for anyone or anything; he got up and made his way outside.

"Syaoran! Come back! It's too dangerous!" He heard someone call after him, but he wasn't paying attention. If Sakura was in danger, it was his fault; he shouldn't have gotten her upset. He opened the door to get outside on the deck and felt the wind push him back with powerful force. He clamped his teeth together and walked with effort out into the raging storm. He could barely see anything because of the rain and the wind, but he kept walking nonetheless on the deck trying to find her.

He suddenly heard a scream and knew right away that it was Sakura and he ran in the direction of the voice and her aura. He saw a small figure hanging tightly onto one of the railings, screaming and as he grew closer he actually heard what she was screaming and would have been in shock except he was only concentrating on saving her.

"Syaoran!" Sakura screamed as she felt herself starting to lose hold of her grip on the railing. Then somehow in front of her she saw Syaoran and she felt her tears starting to clear up, he was there and he would save her. He put his arms around her tightly and she held onto him just as tightly. Both of them starting walking back holding onto each other, facing the ferocious wind and rain. Syaoran felt Sakura's body shiver and heard her scream, her eyes locking on something ahead of them in fear. He followed the look and felt his own eyes grow wide. A huge wave was forming and was about to come down on them if they didn't get inside soon.

Both of them started running, but before they could reach, the huge wave came crashing down on them and he was now underwater but still on the ship. Syaoran felt Sakura being pulled away from him and fear rose inside of him. He stretched out his hands desperately trying to feel her, he looked around frantically trying to find her, but he couldn't see her. The water had somehow left the ship and Syaoran felt himself breathe in the air greedily, but within a second he was up looking for Sakura on the deck, which still contained some water.

Before he could do anything else another wave came crashing down on him, sending him flying back crashing against something hard. He felt pain radiate through his whole body but he still opened his eyes, trying to find Sakura. He heard another scream and he stood up quickly and just in time to see her going overboard into the roaring water. Without thinking he ran and jumped into the water after her. He swam around, trying to find her but he couldn't. He searched for her aura and felt it very weakly, and he knew she was underwater. He dived under the water and he saw something dimly and he went after it, knowing that it was her. He grabbed her and brought her up for air.

He swam trying to get nearer to the ship and when he was close enough, he grabbed on to one of the thick ropes. The next thing he knew he felt Sakura being lifted out of his arms and float above him. He looked up and saw Eriol focusing on her, and he knew that Eriol was trying to get her to safety. He watched until he saw Eriol had her and he saw another figure - Tomoyo and Meilin. They grabbed Sakura and he knew they were taking her inside. Eriol then focused on trying to get Syaoran up but another wave came crashing down and Syaoran felt his head hit hard against the ship and blackness surrounded him and his last thoughts were, She's safe now, that's all that matters.

AN: There, finished chapter 10! Wow, I'm actually on chapter 10? Hmm. I wonder how many chapters before I finish. starts mumbling and thinking. goes off into own little word. snaps back into reality Please, I'm always open for comments and reviews, let me know what you think (if you forgive me and aren't mad for taking so long!) Buh bye, I promise not to be so long for the next chapter!


	11. Life, Angels and the Ball

AN: Hey! Ahhhhhhhh! Jumps up and down all excitedly You don't hate me anymore! Wipes tears of joy I actually got more reviews which means you don't hate me! I'm still so sorry for not updating sooner, so I'm putting up this one now. Sorry for the cliffhanger before, I did that without even realizing it. I was actually sitting here wondering why you people were saying you're going to kill me, and then I figured it out. But anyhow, thank you everyone, who reviewed, I appreciate it very much. So on with the story.

Disclaimer: I do not own CCS or any characters in this story. sigh, every single time I do this my heart breaks... do you people not care about my heart condition?

Always & Forever

Life, Angels and the Ball

Sakura woke up the next morning and found herself in a bed, covered with about fifty blankets. She knew she was no longer in her cold wet dress, but something warm and dry. She looked around to find Meilin sleeping in a chair and Tomoyo sleeping next to her with Kero sleeping on top of Tomoyo. She looked to her left and found herself facing dark sapphire eyes. She looked closely at Eriol's face and noticed the heavy bags under his eyes and the tiredness showing clearly on his face, plus the lines of worry. She tried to get up but winced and fell back in pain.

"Don't try to move, you're too weak to do anything," Eriol told her, his voice - like always, calm and reassuring. She nodded and closed her eyes again. But opened them a second later and looked around the room again. She saw all her friends except for one, the one person she wanted to see the most. She went through all of last night's actions; how she had been on deck when the storm hit, how Syaoran had helped her, how they got separated and when she went overboard - but that's it. She looked at Eriol with worried and confused eyes.

"Eriol, what happened?" She asked, her voice so small and shaken. Eriol sighed and his eyes seemed to grow dull.

"You went overboard - do you remember that?" He asked her and when she nodded he continued. "Syaoran went in after you and he saved you. He brought you close to the ship and I was able to levitate you up to safety and then Tomoyo and Meilin came and brought you inside. You were knocked out cold; they changed you and put you in bed. You were suffering from hypothermia, you were cold and shivering and it looked like you were having nightmares - which are totally understandable in your situation." He paused and wondered whether or not he should add in the part where she was just constantly calling out Syaoran's name; but thought against it because that would only embarrass her.

She looked at him, her eyes expecting more. Now that she had learned about what happened to her, she wanted to know where Syaoran was. She knew she didn't need to ask Eriol that because everything showed on her face. He sighed and closed his eyes, wondering if he could tell her while looking at her. He opened his eyes; he would even if it killed him. "Eriol?" she asked again, her voice full of expectancy.

"After I had brought you out of the water, I started lifting him out too. But another wave came and crashed him into the ship and I lost control because of the impact. He fell back into the water and," he paused and drew in another breath. He remembered what had happened clearly; he remembered Tomoyo asking and begging him not to go into the cold water, but he ignored her - for the first time - and jumped in after Syaoran. "I went in after him, but when I found him.it was too late." His voice had grown quiet and he looked at Sakura. He knew that the pain he felt was nothing compared to what she was feeling, just by looking at her face.

Sakura stared at Eriol's face, letting the words sink in. She felt the blood drain form her face; she started shaking her head very slowly. No, it can't be true; it just can't be, she thought to herself, tears filling her pain-filled eyes. "No," she whispered to Eriol. She couldn't believe this; they couldn't expect her to believe this. "Where is Syaoran?" She asked him. But before waiting for his reply, she searched for his aura but she couldn't find it.

"The next room," he told her, his voice still quiet. Sakura threw her sheets up and got up. Eriol stood up and reached out his hand, and she took it without hesitation. All that mattered was that she get to Syaoran. Eriol helped her out of her room and led her to the room where Syaoran was. When she saw him, she let go of Eriol's hand and walked herself wobbly over to his bed where he lay. She nearly tripped and Eriol went forward but stopped when she regain her balance and continued to walk. She would not stop till she got to him.

He lay on the bed and he looked like he was sleeping - but he wasn't. His face was white, too white for any person's face to be. She reached out and touched his hand and gasped at how cold his hand was. Again she searched for his aura but felt nothing, but she should have because he was right next to her. She felt the tears that she had held back before fall freely from her face. She didn't notice that Meilin, Tomoyo and Kero had awaken and were now standing at the doorway with Eriol staring at their friend. Tears filled their eyes and fell one by one down their cheeks as well.

Sakura held onto his hand, still not believing the fact that he was gone. He had died saving her life - which wasn't fair. "It's not fair!" She whispered furiously as she cried, her tears falling onto his clothes. She expected him to suddenly just wake up and smile at her, to tease her for believing something so fearfully foolish - but he didn't. He just lay there completely still and cold, his handsome face seemed waxy. "Please," she begged silently to him. The others stepped back into the hall, letting Sakura have her privacy, and because they couldn't watch anymore. Eriol hugged Tomoyo as Tomoyo clung onto him, crying. Eriol saw Meilin, crying silently and he pulled her into the hug as well.

"Please come back," Sakura whispered to him. She let her head rest on his chest, tears leaving dark marks on his clothes. "Please, I never got to tell you how I feel. Please Syaoran," she cried. She thought about her Sakura Cards, maybe there was a card that could bring him back, but she knew there wasn't. She cried harder at the fact knowing that she couldn't even bring him back when he saved her.

Suddenly a bright light filled the room and Sakura looked up to find a blinding white light in the middle of the room. The others noticed the light and looked into the room and like Sakura, had to shield their eyes. The light died down and Sakura opened her eyes and gasped. In front of her stood two figures and to be frank - they looked like angels.

One was a boy, and one was a girl. Both of them were wearing white and had white wings with fluffy white feathers looking soft enough to sleep on, and halos above their head. They smiled at Sakura, not saying a word and moved closer to her and Syaoran. Sakura saw their smiles disappear when they looked at Syaoran lying lifeless on the bed. Sakura felt another tear fall down her cheek and the girl angel saw and reached out and brushed it away. Sakura gasped because she could feel the touch, it wasn't cool - but warm. Yet at the same time, the touch hardly had any feeling - like a warm breeze that flew across her face.

"You're - Kari and T.K?" Sakura whispered as the two angels in front of her smiled. They said nothing to her but Kari went over to Syaoran, bent down and kissed his forehead. A white light suddenly filled through him and his eyelids began to flutter. He opened his eyes and the first thing he saw was an angel. She stared at him, her eyes full of concern, and her emerald eyes never seemed so bright. Beautiful, he thought. He sat up and that's when he noticed the other two people in the room - if you would call them people.

Sakura looked at the two angels and smiled softly at them. "Thank you," she said to them, her voice full of sincerity. T.K and Kari smiled at them and with a nod, the room filled with a bright light, blinding everyone again. When Syaoran opened his eyes again, they weren't there anymore. Sakura stared at him, her eyes wide in amazement and disbelief. "Syaoran?" She whispered to him. He gave her a confused look. What's going on? He thought. The next thing he knew, Sakura had flung herself on him, hugging him tightly. He felt his face turn red, and slowly he put his arms around her.

She moved away from him and stared at him, her eyes bright with tears. "Who was that?" He asked her. She smiled.

"T.K and Kari," she replied to him. He looked confused. The angels T.K and Kari? She nodded at him as if she could read his mind. "They brought you back to life," she said then she realized how pathetic her words sounded. "Uh." she started but luckily for her someone interrupted them.

"Syaoran!" Meilin screamed as she ran into the room and like Sakura flung herself on Syaoran. When she had let go, Tomoyo went over and she too hugged Syaoran, which shocked Syaoran. He and Tomoyo were friends, but he didn't think they were that close, but he just shrugged it off. When Tomoyo moved away, Syaoran came face to face with Eriol who didn't look the least bit bothered by Tomoyo hugging him. They both stared at each other, not one of them saying anything to each other. The girls exchanged confused looks wondering what was going on. It was as if they were somehow communicating to each other without speaking. Then the most amazing thing happened, both boys broke into smiles confusing the girls even more. But just as quickly as their smiles appeared they had disappeared and Syaoran's regular frown was on and Eriol's regular smirk.

After a moment of everyone speaking at the same time Sakura stood up and everyone looked at her. "Ok everyone, Syaoran needs his rest, we can all talk to him once he feels better," she said, starting to gently push the others out of the room.

"But Sakura, I feel - " Syaoran started but once he saw the look Sakura gave him he shut up. The others smiled to themselves and walked out without Sakura accompanying them. Sakura walked back to Syaoran and pulled his covers up to his neck. "You really don't have to do this," Syaoran told her. She looked at him and smiled softly.

"I know," she replied, "but I want to. You did after all save my life." She paused and stopped what she was doing and looked down. "Thank you," she said quietly and started putting more sheets on the bed.

"Uh, Sakura," Syaoran said in a muffled voice but Sakura didn't hear, she just continued to put more sheets on him. "Sakura!" He finally yelled loud enough for her to stop and realize what she was doing and when she looked over at Syaoran she gasped. She couldn't see him; he was buried layer after layer in sheets and was probably suffocating because of her. She quickly uncovered him to find his face red and gasping for air.

"Oh Syaoran!" She gasped out, taking off some of the covers. "I'm so sorry! I really didn't realize what I was doing. Gomen ne!" she apologized and kept apologizing even when he told her it was ok. Then he started laughing; Sakura gave him a confused look then pouted. She took up an extra pillow and because Syaoran was too busy laughing he didn't notice what she was doing until the felt he pillow whack him in the face. "Stop laughing at me!" she demanded but he continued to laugh.

"I'm not laughing at you," he told her, still laughing. She swung at him again but he saw it this time and pushed it away. "It's just that you're - you're taking this overboard. I'm all right now." Sakura looked at him in shock.

"Syaoran, you just died!" Sakura said and for no particular reason this time, she tried to hit him again with the pillow but he caught it and held onto it. She started pulling it away yelling at him, and he started pulling it towards him and he finally gave a good hard pull and because of the power, she fell right on top of him. Neither one of them said anything as they stared into each other's eyes. Sakura saw his liquid amber eyes soften and she felt herself getting lost into them.

A sleepy Kero had finally gotten up to find no one else in the room. He flew up and wondered if Sakura was there with the gaki. He flew, still sleepy into the room next door and what he saw completely woke him up. "GET OFF OF HER YOU GAKI!" He yelled at the top of his lungs. Sakura heard Kero's voice and scrambled off of Syaoran as Kero charged at him. Sakura stood in front of Kero making sure he didn't get to Syaoran.

"Kero, relax," Sakura told him, knowing that she was red and that Syaoran must be just as red as she was. She held the little flying bear in front of her. "Kero, Syaoran has to rest and you barging here like that yelling isn't going to help him." Kero gave her this helpless look and glared angrily at Syaoran who was in bed behind Sakura making faces at Kero. Kero tried to get at him again. "Kero," Sakura said in a warning voice making Kero stop.

"Fine, but I thought he was suppose to be dead." Kero muttered and Sakura felt her eyes widen.

"Kero!" She exclaimed. "That wasn't very nice! Syaoran is my friend and you should be happy that he's alive and well." She told him and once again Kero looked behind Sakura to find Syaoran grinning evilly at him. Kero once again glared at him and Sakura turned around and Syaoran put on an innocent look on his face. "Kero, you shouldn't even be flying around here, someone could have seen you." Kero didn't say anything but grumbled something that neither Sakura or Syaoran could hear; but Sakura was sure she didn't want to know what he said. He reminds me of Touya, she thought sweat dropping and suddenly a wave of homesickness came over her again. She sighed and took Kero back into the other room.

She came back into the room to find Syaoran asleep with a smile on his face. She pulled up a chair next to the bed and sat there, just staring at him.

The next few days Sakura never left Syaoran's side until he was able to get up out of bed and walk around by himself. He had personally liked her company and spending all the extra time with her, but he had to get his thoughts right. The five friends (and Kero who was hiding in Sakura's backpack along with the Sakura Cards) were having their last dinner together on the ship; they were to reach Yukito's Kingdom by the morning. Sakura kept passing bits and pieces of her food into the bag and every now and then they would hear Kero scream out "oh yeah!" or "this is delicious".

Sakura awoke the next morning with the sunlight blinding her momentarily. She opened her eyes and excitement flooded through her as she realized that they were probably in the Yukito Kingdom. She jumped out of bed and hurried off to get dressed; and when she was finished someone knocked on her door and there stood Tomoyo already dressed in her red gown.

"Ohayo Sakura," she said cheerfully as she walked in.

"Good morning," Sakura replied as she packed up the rest of her stuff. "Are we there yet?" She asked, sounding like an excited little kid. Tomoyo couldn't help but smile and nodded. It's good to see her happy again, especially since it's because of Syaoran, Tomoyo thought happily.

"We're suppose to have all of our stuff packed - but it looks like you've already done that," she started, "and we're suppose to meet out in a few minutes." Sakura nodded and soon both girls were waiting with their luggage on deck. They both watched as they came closer and closer to land and when Sakura saw Yukito's castle she gasped. Even from this far away from it, it was already so huge. By then the rest of the gang had met and when they came off the boat Syaoran and Eriol led.

"How do we get there?" Sakura asked, her bag had become a little bit heavier and she didn't want to walk all the way to the castle; it would take such a long time and she would be exhausted and tired, plus she was wearing a dress.

"Don't worry, no walking this time," Eriol told her and she sighed out in relief. "Why walk when we can use transportation?" And just then a carriage came and stopped right in front of them. The girls squealed in delight as the driver took their stuff while the guys opened the doors to let the girls go in. "After you milady," Eriol told Tomoyo as she blushed a slight pink.

"Arigatou Eriol-kun," she told him as she stepped inside. Tomoyo and Eriol sat on one side and Sakura, Syaoran and Meilin sat on the other side. Sakura stared outside her window totally oblivious to what was going on inside the carriage, gasping and grinning at everything she saw.

"So," Meilin whispered to Syaoran. He looked at her, eyebrows up.

"So what?" He asked back. Meilin rolled her eyes at him, feeling a bit annoyed.

"Did you tell her yet?" She asked looking in Sakura's direction who was too busy trying to watch everything. Syaoran sighed and shook his head and Meilin gave him a look. "Li Syaoran! You almost - wait, let me rephrase that. You died a few days ago and luckily you were brought back to life. Take this chance to tell her!" Meilin fumed. He gave her a death stare and for a moment she wanted to shrink back but she never let her gaze falter. (AN: Woohoo! Go Meilin!) "If you don't tell her by the end of tonight, then I will." She said hastily and turned and stared out of her side of the window. (AN: Syaoran is sitting between both girls if you didn't know).

He closed his eyes tight and tried very hard not to pull his hair out in frustration. Girls, why do they have to be so difficult? He thought. He sighed again. At least I have till the end of tonight.he thought gloomily, hoping that night won't come anytime soon.

"Look at them! They're so kawaii!" Tomoyo once again whispered to Eriol, starting to get excited already. "Ouuu, I can't wait till tonight!"

"Quiet or they'll figure out something!" Eriol hushed Tomoyo, but she just waved it off.

"No way. Sakura's too busy staring at the scenery hoping to see everything," She looked at her friend, "and Syaoran's too busy with his own thoughts and staring at his cherry blossom and it's ok if Meilin knows." She said as-a-matter-of-fact. They talked for a bit more about their plan until the carriage stopped.

Sakura's head snapped up to watch her friends. "We're here," Syaoran said and the driver came and opened the doors for them. Sakura came out and gasped. She couldn't believe how huge and beautiful the castle was. Sakura started getting more nervous. There's going to be so many people.she thought nervously. They made their way up the castle and there standing at the large doors was a very tall man white/gray hair and large glasses. He saw them and waved politely as they approached him. Syaoran and Eriol bowed and Tomoyo, Meilin and Sakura curtseyed.

"Welcome Li Syaoran," the man said. "I've heard that you were going to be visiting."

"Ohayo. I was wondering if you can grant me a favor." Syaoran asked and the man nodded. "I was wondering if my friends and I may stay for the night." The man smiled brightly.

"Of course!" he exclaimed, absolutely delighted. "Good, you'll be staying for the ball!" then he noticed Sakura and smiled warmly at her. "You have a new companion. I've never seen her around you guys when you visited before. Who might you be?" he asked.

"Kinomoto Sakura," she replied meekly. For some reason when she saw him he reminded her of Touya, a much kinder Touya of course.

"Nice to meet you, Sakura," he said and bowed again. "I am Prince Yukito, welcome to my Kingdom. I hope that you enjoy staying here." So that's who he is, Sakura thought. Well, it makes sense, greeting his guests. Syaoran looked back and forth from Yukito and Sakura and started fuming while his other friends had noticed and started giggling to themselves well not Eriol, Eriol just does not giggle (AN: shrugs it must be a guy thing).

"Yukito," Meilin said, "can we go to our rooms now? We really are quite tired form our long journey and we have to get ready and be prepared for your glorious ball tonight." Meilin asked hastily, Yukito smiled and nodded not minding one bit; then a whole bunch of servants took their stuff. When one came to Sakura she shook her head stubbornly.

"That's alright, I'll carry my own stuff, it's really quite heavy and I don't want it to be an inconvenience for you." She told the servant, who just stood there looking at her strangely for a moment, then smiled and left. Syaoran smiled and shook his head as he followed the others to were their room would be.

"See you later tonight," Yuki yelled to them as they entered the castle. Their rooms ended being next to each other (AN: nah, really?). Sakura stepped into her room and noticed something strange immediately; everyone in the room was completely green. She like the look though (AN: wonder why. hehehe) and as she was looking around she heard a cough coming from in front of her door and spun around to find Syaoran looking down, uncomfortable.

"Hello Syaoran," she greeted him. "Can I help you with something?" (AN: Damn, she sounds so formal.)

"Uh, Sakura, do you mind if we switched rooms?" he asked and beckoned for her to follow him. His room was to the right of hers and when she saw his room she had to laugh. His room was completely pink; no wonder he wants to change rooms. She did like the color pink (AN: go figure) but.

"Actually," she started. "I really like the room I have. Green's a great color, one of my favorite colors (AN: really? I haven't noticed. ok, I'll try to cut back on the sarcasm). Is it ok if I keep the green room?" she asked politely. Syaoran looked at her hopeful face and couldn't tell her no. He sighed and shook his head. She smiled brightly and thanked him then left his room.

Meilin passed by Sakura and saw a look on her face that seemed - smug. She passed by Sakura's room and Syaoran and his room and saw him getting angry. She saw his room and laughed at him. "My, I never knew you liked the color pink.oh but wait - that's right. Sakura's favorite color is pink." Syaoran glared at her and shut the door right in her face. She stood there with her mouth open as anger started to flow through her veins. "Fine! You'll regret that Syaoran!" she yelled and marched and bumped into Tomoyo and Eriol.

"Hey Meilin, what's up?" Tomoyo asked then she saw the angry look on Meilin's face. "What's wrong?" She asked.

"Fine," Meilin replied angrily.

"I didn't ask how you were," Tomoyo commented.

"Oh! Syaoran is such a pain! He's always mean and glaring at everyone, we can't even say anything to him; but then when Sakura's around he goes all googoo gaga. It's so annoying that he can't even tell her that he loves her!" She blurted out; then she noticed the looks on Eriol and Tomoyo's faces. "What?" She asked suspiciously as the smug looks on their faces turned evil. They quietly whispered something to her and she felt her anger fade away and she smiled just as evilly as they did. "You guys - this is perfect! How did you come up with it?" she asked.

"All Tomoyo's idea," Eriol commented as she beamed proudly.

"Hey guys," Sakura's voice chirped in. All three of them turned to face her quickly, hoping that she didn't hear anything. "What are you talking about?"

"Um, how - when did you get here?" Tomoyo asked in a stuttering voice.

"Oh, I just got here," Sakura replied, and they all sighed in relief, then a look came across her face. "Am I interrupting something? If I am, then I'll just leave," she told them.

"No, no that's all right Sakura," Eriol told her and her face brightened immediately.

"We were just talking about." Meilin paused.

"What you're going to wear tonight!" Tomoyo exclaimed and they all sweat dropped. "Come on ladies, to Sakura's room!" and she started pushing them into Sakura's room. Eriol heard Sakura complaining and Tomoyo asking her if that was all the dresses she had. Eriol chuckled to himself, and then he turned and went downstairs to get the plan started.

"Come on, Sakura!" Tomoyo yelled at the top of her lungs.

"No! I'm not coming out!" Sakura yelled back as Tomoyo started pounding on her door.

"Why not?" Tomoyo yelled once again this time in disbelief shock.

"Because I didn't even know it was a costume party and I look and feel absolutely foolish in this costume!" She yelled back in reply. Tomoyo stopped hitting her hand against the door and sighed. Then she got an idea and ran quickly into her room and started tossing clothes here and there until she found what she was looking for. She grabbed the piece of clothing and ran back to Sakura's room and started pounding again.

"Sakura! Open up, I've got a new costume for you! Try it on and if you don't like it then you don't have to wear it!" Tomoyo yelled crossing her fingers as well. "Hurry up! We're already late!"

Sakura opened the door and Tomoyo stuffed the clothing into the little space. She waited for a few minutes, anxiously tapping her foot on the floor. "Sakura!" Tomoyo yelled impatiently and she heard the door open. She turned around and froze. "Oh Sakura," she gasped. "Wow, Syaoran's eyes are gonna fall out!" She squealed and grabbed a blushing Sakura's hand and dragged her into the main hall.

AN: There's another chapter done. So what'd you think? Now honestly, do you think I'd actually let Syaoran die and leave him dead? I couldn't possibly do that to poor Sakura and Syaoran-lovers. Sorry if it's not as long as you hope it'd be, but the next chappie will hopefully be better shrugs who knows, maybe something exciting? I'm open to all comments and views and any way to make this story better. please and thank you!


	12. The Ball continued, the attacker and gh...

AN: Hey everyone, what's up? I know, it's been such a long time, but look on the bright side; I updated a lot quicker than the last time, right? Anyway, here's the waiting chapter you all have been waiting for! Enjoy! Oh and I want to start a new story, but I need ideas... so just to let you know, I'm open for ideas! I write to please you!

Disclaimer: I do not own CCS. Period. End of discussion. 

"They're awfully late," Meilin muttered to Eriol and Syaoran. She wore a sleeveless elegant red gown that reached down to her ankles, her hair let down and filled with sparkles. She wore a glimmering red mask on her face matching her dress and she clearly caught the attention of all the other guys.

Syaoran (he wore that nice costume he had in the second movie.see where this is going?) watched around, trying to find either Tomoyo or Sakura but couldn't see them. Eriol wore something similar to Syaoran, but his colors consisted of dark blue and violet colors. And he too waited for the other two people to arrive to start their plan.

Silently the door opened and Eriol had to catch his breath as Tomoyo walked through alone. She had a dark violet dress on that matched her eyes and hair and swept the floor around her. (I'm not in the descriptive mood, I told you it's violet and long - you design the rest) she tried to enter as quietly as she could so no one noticed her; but as she walked towards Eriol many heads turned her way. Eriol just stood there, just staring at her as if she were some rare jewel.

"Tomoyo, wow," he spoke softly to her, "I've traveled to all the Kingdoms seeing many beautiful breathtaking things, but you - you have surpassed all of the magnificent wonders I've ever seen winning first prize." Tomoyo blushed like mad.

"Arigatou Eriol-kun," she whispered as she took hold of his hand, which he offered. "I managed to ditch Sakura and she'll be arriving any second." She whispered close to his ear and he tried to rub off the feeling of being so close to her. She looked passed Eriol at Meilin and Syaoran. "Meilin, you look very pretty," she told her and Meilin smiled.

"Thank you, you look good yourself," Meilin replied, "but I guess Eriol made that clear, right?" Tomoyo turned pink once again and looked at a frowning Syaoran. She noticed that he almost - almost smiled which came to a shock to her because the only person who could get him to smile was Sakura.

"Meilin's right, you look good," he said quietly shocking all three people. He never said anything like that before - Li Syaoran just didn't do things like that. Sakura must be doing him wonders, Tomoyo thought to herself.

"Thank you," she replied. "You look good too." He just nodded and he started to ask something but stopped, making Tomoyo grin and remembering their plan. "Don't worry, she's coming. She just wants to make an entrance." She looked at Eriol and Meilin and they all exchanged the same evil look and with a smirk from Eriol - all the lights went off. Everyone in the castle tensed up except for Eriol, Tomoyo and Meilin.

The door creaked open and a single spotlight landed on the person coming in. Syaoran stared at the person, feeling his mouth drop open as he saw her walk uneasily forward. Everyone held his or her breath as she looked around in the dark trying to find a familiar face. Another spotlight appeared on Syaoran but he was too entranced on the green-eyed girl with the angel costume. (Ok, we all know who "she" is and we all know that I suck when it comes to dresses and clothing - I'll leave that to Tomoyo. It's the angel costume she wore in the second movie, like Syaoran's wearing his costume in the second movie. Coincidence?)

Sakura stared uneasily around, and wondered why it's so dark and she couldn't see anyone. Then another light came out of nowhere and that's when Sakura saw Syaoran and thought immediately that she was in some sort of dream. When Sakura saw him, she stopped watching and she immediately knew that any chance of getting over him was now gone.

He walked up to her, their eyes locked and Sakura knew that was the end of her while Syaoran was thinking the same thing. Those darn green eyes.he thought. Tomoyo let out a really soft and what seemed breathless, "kawaii," but no one noticed. The two figures standing in the now one spotlight were unaware that everyone else was staring and the entire place was absolutely quiet - waiting for one of the two people to say something.

Tomoyo nodded to Eriol and he smiled. Music played softly around the two figures. Syaoran, still not saying anything, held out his hand and Sakura accepted it, their eyes never leaving one another. They both started dancing, totally oblivious to what was going on around them. Eriol made the music louder so that other people wouldn't be listening to them. But he, Meilin and Tomoyo huddled together and listened intently because they would be able to hear every single word. They soon started getting impatient though because neither one of the two dancers weren't saying anything!

"Sakura," Syaoran finally managed to breathe out, "you look - amazing." He knew that word didn't even start to describe how the green-eyed tenshi looked at that moment. True, he had always found her beautiful, but now. Sakura blushed under her mask.

"Arigatou Syaoran," she replied, her voice soft. "You look incredibly handsome," she said without thinking and when she realized what she said, she looked away from him for the first time. Syaoran blushed deep (I mean deep) red.

"Uh, thanks," he tired, he didn't know what to say. They finally heard the complaints of the other people around them for the first time as well. Some were yelling to turn the music down; others wanting to know whom the two people dancing were and others - were chanting for them to kiss.

Both Syaoran and Sakura blushed and they noticed that all around them it was dark and only they were dancing in a spotlight. "Maybe we should," Sakura started.

"Leave," Syaoran finished for her. They stopped dancing and he saw doors opened and he figured it would lead them to the garden. So taking her hand, they both walked outside.

"My, I didn't even have to suggest for them to go into the garden," Eriol commented. "This is going to better than I thought. Makes my job easier, anyway." The three friends followed Syaoran and Sakura quietly outside and closed the doors behind them. They looked around for them when Meilin suddenly gasped out.

"Oh! That's so -."

"Kawaii," Tomoyo breathed out. Syaoran and Sakura were walking hand in hand and he led her across a bridge and stopped in the middle. The moon seemed to have magically appeared out of nowhere capturing the whole beauty of the place. "This is picture perfect!" Tomoyo said quietly as Eriol and Meilin agreed.

Sakura and Syaoran were standing on a stone bridge with a stream running beneath them, sparkling like a large dark jewel. Tall cherry blossom trees surrounded them with green grass around them. Cherry blossom leaves fell softly all around them and flowers of different sorts were everywhere. It's as if it's raining cherry blossoms, Sakura thought and smiled.

"How romantic," Meilin said. "Nice job Eriol," she whispered to him. Tomoyo agreed and wished more than ever that she had brought her video camera with her. "Do you think we should leave?" Meilin asked and both of their heads snapped in her direction at the same time. "Forget I asked," she mumbled after seeing the dangerous looks on their faces.

Sakura and Syaoran took their masks off and smiled at each other in the moonlight. Oh kami-sama, he looks so handsome, she thought to herself. He took a step towards her and held her hands. He knew that he couldn't control anything that he was doing, but Sakura didn't even seem to mind.

"I heard about your engagement," Sakura told him softly, she felt that if she spoke too loud everything would break and disappear. Syaoran smiled and it took every bit of strength she to keep her knees not buckle.

"Yeah. It was really strange," his voice just as soft as hers. "I guess Meilin knew -," he paused and caught himself before he said anything else. He saw Sakura's smile disappear and her face fall and he wanted to do whatever it took to bring that smile on her face again.

"She knew that you were in love with someone else," Sakura finished for him. He stared at her in shock. Does that mean she knows? She does - and probably doesn't even feel the same way. "Syaoran?" she asked softly and just the way she said his name made him go crazy. "I'm sorry that we got into that fight on the ship.it was horrible and I never want to fight with you again. And even after that, you still saved me. Why?" She asked him, a confused look on her face. She's so adorable when she's like that, he thought to himself. He gave her a small smile.

"Because you're my friend and I care about you a lot," he answered her. She smiled, but it faded again. Your friend, she thought sadly, that's all I'll ever be.your friend. "Sakura, what's wrong?" he asked her and she looked down, avoiding his eyes. He reached out and titled her head up so she looked at him. "What's wrong?" he asked again. She looked up at him, her green eyes turning glassy.

"I - Syaoran," She started, but she couldn't continue and once again looked down. What's the point of me telling him when he doesn't feel the same way? Syaoran sighed.

"I know what this is all about," he told her and her head snapped up.

"Y - you do?" She asked nervously and he nodded, this time he looked away and stepped back.

"I know you know and you don't feel the same way and I want you to know that's ok," he told her. She gave him a confused look.

"What?" she asked. "Syaoran, what are you talking about?" She could barely make out anything that he said; he wasn't making any sense at all. He looked at her strangely and she suddenly felt self-conscious. She shifted from one foot to the other meanwhile both of them were too caught up in their own conversation to notice that Meilin, Tomoyo and Eriol were sneaking up closer and closer to them so they could hear what was being said. They hid behind a large Sakura tree and realized they were close enough to hear them and they waited.

"You don't know, do you?" he asked her suddenly and she gave him yet another confused look.

"Man is that girl dense," Meilin whispered to Tomoyo and Eriol and they nodded in agreement.

"Know what?" Sakura asked and took a step closer. "Know what Syaoran?" She asked a little more demanding now. He smiled nervously and scratched his head.

"Uh, nothing." he muttered and took a step back away from her. You BAKA Syaoran, you almost told her that you loved her! He scolded himself.

"Syaoran," she said more forceful and then sighed in defeat. Why did he have to be so stubborn? She turned and rested her hands on the thick white stones, which made the bridge. "Syaoran, I think there's something you should know," she told him and he looked at her carefully. She had her back to him so he wouldn't see her face. She drew in a deep breath. This is it, point of no return.

"Sakura?" he asked uncertainly.

"When we had that fight on the ship, I felt completely awful about it; I hate being in fights with people - especially you," she said, her voice going especially soft at the especially you. "When I was out in that storm, part of me was so afraid and the other part of me wasn't. The part of me that wasn't afraid was because I knew that you'd come and rescue me. The whole time I kept thinking that, he would come for me. And then I started to get really scared because you weren't there yet and - and I thought that maybe you were still mad at me because of the fight we had.

"I knew that you were mad and you weren't going to save me anymore. When I realized that, I - when I realized that you hated me, I didn't mind getting lost out in that horrible storm. I would rather choose to die out in that storm instead of living every day of my life knowing that you hated me." She said quietly to him and tears started to come down her cheeks. Syaoran walked up to her and turned her towards him.

He put his arms around her and she leaned on him, her tears flowing freely now. He just held her, stoking her hair softly, her sweet fragrance intoxicating his senses. He muttered comforting words to her and she felt so safe in his strong arms. She finally stopped crying and she realized that he was still holding onto her. She moved back away from him and another single tear rolled down her cheek. Without realizing it he reached out and pushed her tear away and instead of moving his hand away, his hand stayed there on her cheek. He finally snapped out of it and pulled his hand back, blushing furiously - not noticing Sakura doing the same.

Tomoyo and Meilin wiped their eyes. "They sure know how to get you to cry," Tomoyo commented and Eriol handed her his handkerchief. "Arigatou Eriol. Why doesn't she just tell him already?"

"She shouldn't have to though because it's so clear!" Meilin complained quietly. "Syaoran is so dense when it comes to her! They deserve each other."

"Sakura, I could never hate you," he told her and she felt herself once again get lost in his amber eyes. He took a step closer and looked away. "I've tried to deny it all along, but I -," he paused. Sakura scrunched up her eyebrows and cocked her head. "Iloveyou," he muttered really quickly and turned around. She stared at him.

"Syaoran," she started.

"I know you don't feel the same way and that's ok," he told her. What is this, déjà vu or something? He asked himself silently.

"But -," she started again but he raised his hand to silence her.

"I told you, it's ok." He repeated himself. He heard her sigh and she walked in front of him and he looked down.

"Sure Syaoran, whatever you say," she told him sounding a bit annoyed. "I bet I would agree with you on what you're saying but I didn't hear a single thing you said!" He looked at her.

"You - didn't?" he asked her and she shook her head. "Oh."

"Can you repeat yourself?" Sakura asked him and he gulped. It was difficult the first time, but to say it again. he closed his eyes and took in a deep breath.

"Iloveyou," he said once again really quickly and he could tell by the confused look on her face that she still didn't hear. He got angry with himself. "I love you!" he yelled in frustration. Sakura took a step back from him, not believing the words that he had just said. He looked away, blushing and not saying anything. She walked right up to him and he still looked down. "And I know you don't feel the same way so I don't want you to worry about it, not one little -." She had put her finger on his lips.

"Syaoran," she whispered to him. He shook his head and closed his eyes, he knew what was coming next - she didn't love him back. She just kept staring at him and he knew that he would look up and fall in her little trap - he wasn't that stupid. He didn't look at her for a while, but he knew he couldn't resist. He looked up and was met by those familiar emerald eyes, but there was something different about them this time. there was something else hidden in them, something more.Sakura smiled at him. "I love you too."

He stared at her for a moment, not understanding what was going on. Maybe I heard her wrong or something, he thought, I mean, there's no way - absolutely no way that Sakura could love me. could she? He still had a confused look on his face and Sakura had to laugh.

"Oh kami-sama, the boy is so stupid!" Eriol cursed under his breath; even he was starting to get frustrated at the couple. They had just admitted their love to each other and he was just standing there like a baka.

"Relax, Eriol," Tomoyo said soothingly, trying to calm her boyfriend down.

"Relax? He is stupid," Meilin said, backing up Eriol.

"Thank you, Meilin," Eriol said. Tomoyo resisted the urge to roll her eyes.

"Shhh, you two. Let's see what happens now," she told them.

"That's if anything happens," Eriol muttered.

"What?" Syaoran asked her again, still unsure of what Sakura had said. She laughed even harder. He is so cute when he's confused like that, she thought.

"I said," she repeated coming closer to him still smiling, "I love you." It finally sink through and the look of confusion left his face and was replaced by a look that showed pure love. He smiled at her and even though she knew that he loved her, Sakura still felt blood rush to her cheeks and she looked down. Like before, Syaoran lifted her chin up and then he gently kissed her.

"KAWAII!" Tomoyo screamed jumping out from behind the Sakura tree not being able to hold back her excitement. Syaoran and Sakura moved apart but he was still holding onto her hand. Sakura put on a shy smile, her cheeks red while Syaoran was blushing like crazy but still showed his anger.

"Well, it's about time!" Meilin said stepping out behind Tomoyo. Syaoran and Sakura exchanged looks, both of them had their mouths open.

"I agree. What took you so long, my cute little descendent?" Eriol asked as he came into view too. Syaoran felt his blood boil.

"How long have you guys been here?" He asked them, furious.

"For the whole show!" Tomoyo said smiling brightly at them. "Come on you two, you both know me better than that.you really didn't think I'd leave this up to fate did you? I sure wasn't going to let you two waste your time.you took long enough already just to admit you loved each other." She told them and they looked at each other again and immediately looked away blushing.

"Tomoyo! There is something called 'privacy'," Sakura told her friend. She was right though, Sakura should have known that her best friend must have been up to something.

"Nope, not to my knowing," Tomoyo replied happily. "But you two were soooo kawaii!"

"I know!" Meilin joined in then sighed. "But I just thought I would never get to sleep because you guys were taking so long. Seriously, how long does it take a person to say 'I love you'?" Syaoran stood still with his eyes closed trying to control his anger and stop all the blushing he was doing.

"I never knew you could be so caring and sensitive, my cute little descendent," Eriol commented and that did it. Syaoran started towards him but Sakura stepped in front of him.

"Syaoran, calm down," she told him and he stopped. He looked at her and she smiled at him - how could he not do what she asked of him? "You know that if you kill Eriol that Tomoyo wouldn't have to go hiding off in the woods anymore and use the excuse of being worried and trying to find me, right? I could never do that to my best friend, she'd be so sad without Eriol!" Sakura said with what looked like a smug look on her face.

Tomoyo and Eriol went ten different shades red. Meilin on the other hand looked confused. "What? Tomoyo, what's she talking about? I don't understand! Someone tell me what's going on!" she demanded but Sakura just giggled and Syaoran smiled at the sight of Eriol and Tomoyo squirming.

After a few more moments of teasing from both sides about each other, they decided that they had a really long day and were going to get some sleep. They were, after all, leaving tomorrow. They all walked back into the castle and all the while Syaoran still never let got of Sakura's hand. Once inside the castle they noticed the party was still going on and one guy had asked Meilin to dance; she told the others she'll come up a little later and accepted the guy's offer to dance.

Syaoran and Sakura stood in front of Sakura's room and they just stared at each other, smiling softly; no words were needed. "Well, I'll see you tomorrow then." Syaoran told her and she smiled.

"Ok, goodnight my little wolf," she said teasingly and turned to walk into her room but Syaoran still hadn't let go of her hand. He stared at her, eyebrows raised in surprise.

"Little wolf, huh?" he said pulling her closer to him. "Since when do you call me little wolf?" Sakura giggled and stopped when she saw his eyes; his eyes that were usually so cold and full of ice now showed so much love - love for her. A soft smile played on her lips and once again he kissed her then pulled away. "Good night, my cherry blossom." He said and walked into his room. Sakura stood out in the large hall for a moment, then she went back inside.

"What a night," she breathed out as she changed into her pajamas. She looked around for Kero but she couldn't find him, then she noticed a trail of cookie crumbs on her floor leading out her door and she sighed. She climbed into bed and blew out the candle leaving her in complete darkness. She lay in her bed but couldn't get to sleep because of all the excitement that had happened. She was so caught up in her own thoughts she didn't notice a dark figure slowly coming into her room.

She suddenly felt something, maybe it was fear - she didn't know but she sat upright in her bed and her hand immediately went under her pillow for her Sakura cards. She looked around her room, she didn't know why - but it felt like she was being watched and she felt so uncomfortable. She told herself not to worry that Syaoran was next door, but she couldn't shake off that feeling. she got out of bed and walked to her door and opened it and looked up and down the hall. Nothing.

She walked back to her bed but didn't get in again. Suddenly she felt someone grab her from behind and cover her mouth. She tried to yell but her voice was muffled; so she stomped on the stranger's foot and the stranger stepped back in pain. She got out her staff and her Sakura cards just as the stranger pulled out his - or her - sword. "Sword Card!" Sakura yelled and her staff transformed into a sword.

Syaoran shot up straight from his bed. He knew he wasn't hearing things; at first he doubted himself but now he was positive. Sakura was in danger and he ran out his room and opened Sakura's door to find Sakura fighting with someone dressed in completely black.he looks just like the guy that attacked me when Sakura first got here, he thought. The guy fighting Sakura spotted Syaoran and said something strange and Syaoran felt that he couldn't move. Sakura saw Syaoran and got distracted.

"Sakura! Watch out!" Syaoran yelled as her attacker came down on her and she moved but not quick enough. She screamed in pain as she felt the sword slice through her arm and now her blood was staining her pajamas. Soon Eriol and everyone else were outside of Sakura's room and as soon as they got there too - they found they couldn't move. "Sakura! Get up! Get out of here!" She looked at him, tears in her eyes. "GO!" He yelled and she nodded, tears falling down her cheeks.

"Fly Card!" She yelled and wings grew on the back of her staff and she hopped on and flew out of the window, her tears trailing behind her with all her friends. Where am I supposed to go? I don't know where I am.I'm all by myself.She flew over trees in complete darkness, the moon that was there earlier was no longer there. She looked down and thought she saw something that looked like an old abandoned house. She squinted and turned around, heading towards it. She landed on the floor gracefully and looked at the old place in front of her.

It scared her; it looked all right from the sky but now seeing it up close, it terrified her. The house looked like it had a face - which reminded her of a ghost; it was all gray and there were windows that were broken and shutters that were creaking. She gulped and decided she would go somewhere else, she turned and looked around and knew that she was completely lost. She was surrounded by dark tall trees and unlike Sherblue woods, these trees made her feel small and scared her. She slowly turned around again and was faced with the creepy house.

She slowly walked towards the house, each step making her feel more afraid. She saw that there was no door, so she entered it. As she walked down the narrow wooden halls, the floor beneath her screeched and the entire place seemed dusty. She passed by rooms, each one more scarier than the first. Finally, she found one room that didn't look so scary.there was even an old mattress. She stepped inside, relieved to find that no one else was in the freaky house and she sat on the mattress, which was hard and springs were popping out everywhere.

Tears fell down from her sad emerald eyes once more.What am I going to do? she thought. Syaoran.please come find me soon.and she soon cried herself to sleep, forgetting about her wound. 

As soon as Sakura flew out the window, her attacker jumped out after her and Syaoran found he could move. He ran over to the window and looked down but couldn't find her attacker. He remembered the pain in her eyes when she got injured, and how sad she looked when he told her to leave. He bent his head and closed his eyes, never feeling his anger reach this far over the top. He had let her down, she had trusted him and he had let her down.

"Syaoran, come on, we must leave," Eriol told him, snapping him out of his thoughts, gently laying a hand on his shoulder. "We have to find her, she headed towards Ghostle - it's dangerous there, you and I both know that." Syaoran looked up and Eriol leaned back because of what he saw in Syaoran's eyes; it scared him.

"Let's go," Syaoran told Eriol, his voice as cold as ice. Syaoran walked out of Sakura's room just as the girls came rushing to Eriol with Kero. Eriol quickly told them what happened and they wasted no time. Everyone started packing their things and soon they were off in the direction that Sakura had gone to. Syaoran walked ahead of them, he didn't want to talk to anyone right now. He only had one thing on his mind, getting his cherry blossom back - and that's what he was going to do.

Eriol suggested that they rest for the night and although Syaoran didn't agree he knew that it was unfair to the girls. He nodded and they set up camp and soon they were all sleeping, except for him. He kept pacing.how can they expect me to sleep? I won't rest until Sakura's safe, he promised. Suddenly Kero flew in front of him.

"Still up, Gaki?" he told him, anger clearly shown in his voice. Syaoran's temper rose even higher.

"You know what, you stuffed thing, I'm not in the mood for your blabbering," Syaoran grumbled to Kero. Kero glared at him.

"That's not what I came to talk to you about," Kero told him and Syaoran looked at him in surprise. "I'm going to find Sakura, I know that she cares about you and that you care about her Kero shivers and I wanted to know if you wanted to come? I can't waste time, you have to make up your mind." Syaoran wrote a message and put it in his tent and gathered his stuff and came back to find Ceroberus.

"Let's go," Syaoran said as he climbed on his back.

"Hang on." Ceroberus warned and they were off flying in the sky. Syaoran searched for her aura while Ceroberus tried to sense his master's magic.

"Don't worry Sakura, I'm coming to get you." He whispered.

AN: Well folks, what do you think? Sorry if there wasn't enough fluff, or if there was too much fluff... And sorry that the new couple didn't get to spend too much time together, but they are on a dangerous mission so there are bound to be spontaneous attacks... so, review please, I'd like to know if people like the story so far.


	13. To be rescued 0nly to be caught again

AN: Hey everyone! I'm back with, Chapter 13? Already? Oh... ok... well, it's up and I'm sorry that I took so long, I've been busy with school... I'm just not a math person. Sighs Anyway, I've started a new story - but eh, I don't think its the greatest, but in any case, the first chapter is up and the second chapter will be up too, hopefully, if people like it. So, enough of my babble, on with the story don't you think?

Disclaimer: I do not own CCS, as much as I wish I did, as much money as I'd pay for it (although I have no $), it's just not mine... so STOP MAKING ME SAY IT! Thank you .

Always & Forever

To be Rescued - Only to be Caught Again

Sakura woke up with the sunlight pouring in through one of the battered windows. She opened her eyes and screamed. All around her were ghosts, there were so many of them and they were all surrounding her. She scrambled back against the wall, her eyes wide in fear as she looked at them. One of the ghosts laughed while another one cocked it's head and looked at her in confusion. She just sat there, paralyzed in fear.

There were so many of them, in different shakes and sizes, some seemed old while others seem young - if that were possible. One of the ghosts came out from the rest of them and it looked older than they did too. It came closer to Sakura and she tired to shrink back. Then the most amazing thing happened.

"It's ok, we're not going to hurt you," the ghost told. Sakura felt her eyes grow even wider and her mouth drop. "Yes, we can talk. No, we're not evil and we're not going to hurt you or kill you or anything like that." The ghost said. Sakura just watched in wonder at this ghost that was talking to her, telling her all of this. She leaned forward, the ghost seemed nice enough - he had a nice voice.

"Y-y-you're not going to kill me?" She asked in a shaky voice and the other ghosts laughed at her. Her eyes were still filled with doubt so the ghost turned around and beckoned to one of the other ones. Another ghost came out and Sakura could tell right away that this ghost was a girl.

"Hi," the girl ghost told Sakura. "I'm Diane."

"Hi," Sakura said, still unsure. Diane smiled at her and Sakura wondered if she was dreaming. Ghosts aren't supposed to talk or smile - they're supposed to be scary and give you nightmares.

"Don't worry, you're safe here," Diane continued. "We're just a bit excited. You see, we haven't had a visitor in such a long time." Diane had a sweet voice and if she were a real girl, Sakura would have to say she'd be around 15 or 16. "What's your name?" Diane asked her.

"Kinomoto Sakura."

"Sakura, that's a nice name," Diane complimented. "Did you know that it means 'cherry blossom'?" Sakura smiled and nodded then she winced. She looked down at her arm and found it all bloody and swollen; it hurt so very much. Diane noticed this. "You're hurt, why didn't you say something before?" Sakura shook her head.

"That's ok, I'm all right," She told them but Diane shook her head. The next thing Sakura knew, there were about three or four ghosts right up next to her.

"Relax, we're just going to help you," Diane told her. Sakura closed her eyes, hoping for the worst but nothing happened. "You can open your eyes," Diane told her and when she did she gasped. Around her arm was a nicely placed bandage.

"But - I didn't feel a thing!" Sakura said in awe and Diane grinned.

"We're ghosts, you don't feel us." She replied simply. Sakura got up and bowed to Diane and the rest of the ghosts.

"Thank you," she told them then looked outside and she frowned. Should I leave here? Or maybe I should stay and maybe Syaoran will find me. she thought.

"You're not leaving so soon, are you?" Diane's voice interrupted her thoughts. Sakura saw the sad look on Diane's face and the rest of the ghost's faces and she didn't have the heart to say that she saw.

"No, of course not," she said smiling to the bunch of ghosts in front of her (AN: ok, that sounds funny). It's better this way because now Syaoran will find me, she thought as a few more ghosts came up to her and started conversations with her. This isn't that bad, it could be a lot worst, Sakura thought. I just hope that the others are ok.

"Do you see her anywhere?" Syaoran yelled to Ceroberus.

"No, not yet," he yelled back. Suddenly he flew down and landed. Syaoran got off of him and just stared at him, bewildered.

"What are you doing?" He demanded. Ceroberus changed back into Kero.

"Listen gaki, you and I are both tired. We need rest, if we don't get rest we won't be able to find her," Kero told him. Syaoran sighed knowing that Kero was right. He grunted fine and both of them leaned against a tree and within minutes were fast asleep.

"I can't believe he just left us like that!" Meilin screamed in rage when Eriol told her what happened. He looked at the girl with weary eyes, he looked to Tomoyo for some help but she too, was angry.

"Meilin's right! How could he do that to us? We're a team, we're just as worried about Sakura as he is!" Tomoyo said, joining Meilin.

"Listen, both of you and listen carefully," Eriol told them and they both fell silent, "We all love her, true - but think of how Syaoran is taking this. He had to watch the whole battle between Sakura and that person, he watched her get hurt and run off into the night. He was helpless, he couldn't protect her and if it's one thing I know, one of the worst feelings you can get is knowing you can't do anything to help and protect the person you love most in the world." Tomoyo and Meilin looked down, suddenly feeling ashamed. They never thought about it like that. "Now come on, we've got to find him and Sakura. He and Ceroberus took off and I know they must have stopped at least once during the night to get some rest. We can't waste no time." With that, they left their camp and set off to find their friends.

Night had fallen and Sakura had returned to what was 'her room' now in the house. She lay down on the mattress and thought about what happened. She spent the entire day with the ghosts and found them to be really friendly and enjoyed their company, didn't feel too lonely. She found out that she was in the middle of Ghostle; most ghosts are normally really cruel - but she was lucky enough to find a place where the ghosts were kind. They gave her food and let her rest all day long, talked to her and kept her entertained.

Even though she had tons of fun, she couldn't get rid of that empty space in her heart. She had been away from her friends and already she felt like she hadn't seen them in years. especially Syaoran. Whenever she thought of him, her heart gave such a violent twist, she felt so incomplete without him. The ghosts noticed that she seemed a little distracted every now and asked her what was wrong. She told them how she ended up here, and her journey so far and what has happened. There was a lot of blushing done when she mentioned Syaoran and the ghosts, seeing her red face, asked more and more questions of her little wolf. She felt tears spring to her eyes. Oh Syaoran.please come soon.please. and she fell into a deep sleep.

Sakura was awakened in the night and tried to scream but she felt something inside her mouth. She looked around fearfully in the dark and could barely make out two or three figures walking around. She realized that her hands and legs were died up and they had tied some kind of cloth around her mouth so she couldn't scream. At first she thought it was the ghosts, but she heard voices and knew right away that it wasn't the ghosts - it was other people. One of the people seemed to notice she was awake and lit a match that brightened the whole room. Once again Sakura tried to scream but couldn't make a noise, but that didn't stop the tears from coming.

In front of here stood three tall men looking very ragged and ugly. They hadn't shaved, their clothes were torn, they were missing teeth and she couldn't tell if they had hair. She wondered if they were drunk, but that was the least of her problems. She looked at them fearfully as they approached her with scary grins on their faces.

"Hey guys, looks like sleeping beauty has finally gotten up," one of guys said indicating she was awake.

"I'd say it was about time," the second said.

"Now we can have our fun," the third guy said rubbing his hands together greedily. Sakura's eyes widened in fear and more tears fell down her face. She tried to scream again but nothing came out but a muffled sound as the three guys moved closer and closer.

Suddenly all of the ghosts in the whole house flew in front of Sakura trying to protect her. The three men stopped in their tracks and stared in disbelief; they exchanged looks of confusion then something happened that scared Sakura. The ghosts, that seemed so nice, their faces turned angry and they looked terrifyingly evil. They started attacking the men and one of the ghosts went inside one of the men and the man started acting really strange. While the other ghosts attacked them, Diane tried to untie Sakura but the knots were so tight she couldn't get her lose.

Suddenly the glass shattered and Sakura saw Syaoran and Ceroberus on the floor with broken pieces of glass on them. She tried to call out to them but her mouth was still gagged. Syaoran quickly got up and at no time he pulled out his sword; and Ceroberus rose and roared - making both the men and ghosts stop and stare. The men took one look at Syaoran and Ceroberus and ran screaming their heads off. The ghosts just stared there, but Syaoran turned and ran to Sakura, who was crying.

He pulled the gag off of her and untied her arms and legs and immediately she flung herself on him, crying. "Oh Syaoran! It was awful - just awful! They wanted - it was so horrible!" she bawled. He just held onto her, never wanting to let her go. She buried her head in his shoulder, and finally she stopped crying but she was shaking violently. She lifted her head to see a worried Ceroberus staring at her and all of her ghost friends staring at her as well. Syaoran shifted so that he could see their faces too and she gave her friends a wobbly smile.

"Thank you for your help," she whispered to them and the ghosts smiled at her. Ceroberus came towards her and stopped right in front of her.

"Sakura, are you ok?" he asked, his eyes full of concern. She nodded and hugged her guardian beast, burying her head in his mane.

"I am now, Ceroberus," she said quietly, "I am now." She noticed that even while she hugged Ceroberus that Syaoran was still holding on to her waist. She moved back and looked at Syaoran, tears filling her eyes again. Syaoran said nothing, but he held her closely again and she just clung onto him. They didn't notice that Ceroberus turned back into Kero and that the ghosts left the room giving the two people a chance to talk alone.

"Sakura?" Syaoran asked when she hadn't said anything for a while. He looked down at her to find her sleeping peacefully on him, her eyelashes still wet with tears. He brushed a few strands of her auburn hair that fell in front of her face and he gently kissed her forehead. "Sleep well, my cherry blossom. I promise I won't let anything happen to you ever again." He spent the rest of the night leaning against the wall with Sakura sleeping on him.

Sakura awoke the next morning to find two arms around her; and that she had her arms around someone else. She knew who it was; she could smell the autumn scent and feel his soft aura. She looked up and found him sleeping and she had to smile at how adorable he looked, the way his messy brown hair fell over his eyes - he looked so kawaii. She closed her eyes and let her head rest on his chest again and closed her eyes, she was still tired and definitely could use some more sleep but never did get around to getting some more because.

"Are you up?" Diane asked Sakura and almost startled her. "Oh, sorry, didn't mean to scare you." Sakura put a finger to her lips and pointed at Syaoran indicating to be quiet.

"No need, I'm up," Syaoran mumbled opening his eyes partway. "How are you feeling?" He asked her and she smiled.

"I'm ok," she replied, then Syaoran turned Diane. "Oh, this is Diane. Diane this is - ."

"Syaoran," Diane said smiling. Syaoran's eyebrows went up. "Sakura has told us a lot about you, Li Syaoran. You are loved very much." Diane said bluntly and Sakura felt a slight blush rise to her cheeks, but Syaoran just smiled. They all heard a groan and Kero came flying in.

"Food." he whispered out. "I.need.food. Very.important. Must. have. food." His stomach growled causing them to laugh. Diane went up to him.

"Follow me and you shall get your food," she told him and Kero followed her without hesitation leaving Sakura and Syaoran alone together.

"Syaoran, I -," she started but he cut her off.

"Sakura listen," he told her and she fell quiet. "Watching you fight that other guy, it was one of the most scariest things in my whole entire life. When you flew out the window, he went after you and I hoped and prayed that you were ok. I thought I would never find you.that I had lost you." He paused and Sakura, who had been looking down the whole time looked up and gasped. Tears formed in his eyes and he refused to look at her. "I'm never going to leave you again, I promise Sakura. Never," he told her and slowly a single tear slid down his face.

Sakura felt her heart break and instead of him holding her, she was now holding him with his face buried in her shoulder. "I'm so sorry, Syaoran." She whispered to him as he held her tightly. "I'm never going to leave you either." He looked up, his face streaked with tears. She wiped them away and smiled at him, and he gave her a very small smile, but it made her happy nonetheless.

"There are more people coming!" Diane came rushing back into the room but paused when she saw Syaoran and Sakura. They both blushed and Diane slowly backed out of the room. "Sorry!" she said and disappeared. Syaoran laughed nervously and got up, and helped Sakura up. But to his surprise, she pulled him and kissed him before he could do anything. They pulled apart and looked at each other, and then they heard a voice yelling at Kero and sighed. The others had arrived; they walked out of the room towards the voice.

"How dare you leave us like that! Do you have any idea how worried we were about you and Syaoran?" Meilin screeched at the top of her lungs at Kero, who looked like he was in pain. The other ghosts hid behind the other walls and doors, afraid of the girl with black pigtails. She opened her mouth to say something then she saw Sakura and Syaoran walk out of the room and she ran and hugged Sakura.

Taken back by the surprise, Sakura hugged back uncertainly. Meilin started talking about how scared she was and how much she missed her, then she got off of Sakura and scowled at Syaoran. Then after a moment of glaring, she hugged him too, cursing him for leaving without them. Next came Tomoyo who didn't let go of her friend until Eriol pulled her off and held her; poor Tomoyo was in tears.

"I'm sorry, you guys," Sakura said, her voice full of sincerity, "I really didn't mean to scare you." They all brushed it off, but Syaoran stuck close to her side. Sakura noticed that she didn't see any of the other ghosts and realized that they still must be afraid of Meilin. "You can come out now, these are my other friends." One by one they appeared and Tomoyo squeaked in delight.

"Look how kawaii they are!" she exclaimed to Eriol, who just shook his head knowing that he loved her childlike excitement. Diane appeared again beside Sakura and they looked at her.

"Would you all like to eat and rest from your long journey?" Diane asked, getting quizzical looks from her friends directed at Sakura. She giggled nervously.

"I told them about our journey," she explained and they all nodded in comprehension. They all headed outside where the ghosts had prepared a picnic for them and they all relaxed for the moment, not knowing the next time they would get to relax again.

"Thank you for all your help," Sakura told Diane and the rest of the ghosts. They were leaving to continue on with their trip; the others had already said their good-byes and were up ahead, but Syaoran remained with Sakura as she said her farewell. Diane brushed off the thanks. "No, I don't think I could have survived without you guys. You helped bandage my wound, made sure I didn't starve. You helped save me from those hideous men. Thank you so very much, I appreciate it." She told them and tears came to her eyes. She felt Syaoran squeeze her hand and she felt better.

"Thank you for staying, we enjoyed your company a great deal," Diane told her then turned to Syaoran. "You better take care of her." Syaoran nodded - he would make sure of that. "Well, if you're ever nearby, please come and visit. You are always welcomed here, you and your friends." Sakura smiled and waved good-bye to all the ghosts knowing that she would miss them terribly. She looked at the road that unraveled before them and sighed, they would have a long way to go.

"Come on," she told her friends and they started down the road together.

"That's it?" Sakura asked as she stared up at the dark gloomy castle in front of her. She swallowed hard, she was totally getting bad vibes off of the castle. Their plan was already set - of course they didn't want Meilin and Tomoyo to be part of it but they insisted. She turned back to everyone, "ready?" she asked and they nodded. Before going in, Eriol grabbed Tomoyo, dipped her and kissed her receiving smooching sounds from Meilin and Kero (Wow, first Kero and Syaoran working together, now Kero and Meilin getting along together? Wow). They all hugged one another, reassuring that everyone was going to be ok and they'll be able to celebrate afterwards. After wishing each other good luck, they split up and went their ways.

Tomoyo walked up to the guards and they raised an eyebrow at her. At first they looked like they were going to blast her with some sort of magic, but after she smiled at them, they looked her over and out of nowhere Eriol and Ceroberus came up and knocked them unconscious. Tomoyo turned to Eriol.

"I thought you were going to wait -," she started.

"I didn't like the way they were looking at you," he replied coolly and she smiled as she went ahead of them incase more guards came.

Meilin, Syaoran and Sakura sneaked up behind one of the walls and jumped on the other side. A few guards heard the noise and went to go see what it was, but in result ended up on the ground with the three friends wearing their clothes. They walked casually into the castle; once inside they looked around trying to find if there was any room that was specially designed with extra spells on it. Syaoran sensed it first and he motioned to Sakura and Meilin that there was a lot of magic being used a little further down the hall and they continued to walk until another guard stepped out in front of them, blocking their paths.

"Excuse me, but no one is allowed here," he said, his voice deep. Sakura looked him over and knew that he was very strong and that it probably would take the two of them to get rid of him, maybe even the three of them. Sakura then realized something, it seemed as though she had heard this man's voice before - but that was impossible. How could she have?

"Sorry," Syaoran muttered.

"What? Speak up!" the man yelled and then Syaoran kicked out at the man without hesitation. Both he and Meilin faced off with the guy while Sakura worked on breaking the magic spells. Each time she broke one, her energy was drained, slowing her down. Sakura took a quick glance at how the others were doing and her eyes widened when she saw the man was holding Meilin and Syaoran in each one of his hands.

"Wood card!" she yelled, holding out her staff. The wood card showed it's real form and stood in mid air in front of Sakura. "Create a cage around that man!" she commanded it and after a quick nod, it began to do so. Syaoran and Meilin fell to the ground and Sakura went to see if they were all right, not worrying about the man, who was cursing and yelling. "Are you -," she started - but she never finished the sentence. Before she knew it, blackness surrounded her.

Sakura slowly opened her eyes, meeting darkness. She waited a while for her eyes to adjust to the darkness; her arms were tied up on either side of her - like she was a prisoner. She looked to her left and right and thankful, she didn't see any one of her friends next to her. She heard someone coming she closed her eyes and the footsteps got louder and stopped and she knew that the person was right in front of her.

"Hello Agnes," she said, her eyes still closed. She heard him laugh and she opened her eyes and found him looking at her with interest.

AN: Well, there's chapter13. I'm moving at a fast pace here, I think this story has gone on for far too long, what do you think? So... did you think it'd be Agnes? Or is it really Agnes? I don't know what I'm trying to say, but I do want to know what you think... thank you everyone who's reviewed so much towards this story. It really does make such a big difference, I love you! And it does encourage me to keep posting up new chapters, so thank you, thank you, and THANK YOU! And, if it isn't too much to ask please review this chapter, I like constructive criticism. Thank you again... See ya!


	14. Meeting Mom and Going Home Unfortunatel...

AN: Hey everyone! Thanks so much for your reviews, smiles and wipes single tear away you have no idea how much it means to me... how many times have I said that? But it's true, it only encourages me to go on... needless to say, this is the second last chapter of this story, and well, I hope some of you aren't too disappointed but yes, it is true. So the next time I post up a chapter it shall be the last chapter of the story, and I'll think about a making a sequel although I doubt it. I mean, who knew writing two stories at once would be so difficult? I certainly didn't... I'm pretty stupid like that, anyway, on with the chapter, let me know what you think ok?

Always & Forever

Meeting Mom and Going Home - Unfortunately

"Hello Agnes," she said, her eyes still closed. She heard him laugh and she opened her eyes and found him looking at her with interest.

"Nice to see you survived, my sweet Sakura," he said reaching out to touch her face, but she moved her head away. She didn't want to feel his slimy hands on her. "Sadly your attitude still hasn't changed towards me. That really is too bad." He said moving away from her. She glared from him with hatred, although she knew hating was wrong, she couldn't control her bitter feelings towards the monster standing in front of her. "Well, I didn't know you could glare." He said, slightly amused.

"Yeah? My boyfriend taught me how, and it comes in very useful," she said coldly and watched anger pass through Agnes' face at the mention of her having a boyfriend. She wanted to smile or at least smirk knowing she had caused him to get upset, but resisted the urge, and instead asked an important question which scared her. "Where are my friends? What have you done with them?" He smiled and she felt herself shiver.

"Your friends? What friends?" He laughed and she winced at the sound. "Your friends, as you call them my dear, are right in front of you." He replied and she saw Syaoran and Meilin standing side-by-side. Seeing them she sighed in relief and felt her shoulders relax despite her hands being held by chains. But when she looked more closely, she noticed that they were both glaring coldly at her, sending icicles straight through her.

"Look at her, she just pops out of nowhere, assumes she's our friend and acts like she runs the place," Meilin said coldly, her piercing eyes glaring at Sakura as if she were the devil. Sakura stared at Meilin in shock and she saw something else that shocked her even more. Syaoran had his arm around her and Meilin, who saw her watching grinned an incredibly evil grin. "What? Did you really think he would fall for you?" she said laughing. Sakura just watched in disbelief.

"You're pathetic Kinomoto," Syaoran's harsh voice cut through the air and it hurt Sakura much more than any physical cut could. Not only was his voice freezing cold, he had used her last name. "You fell right into our trap and it was so easy. I was expecting something more from you - the cardcaptor, the mistress of the cards - ha! Some mistress you are. all I had to do was be kind and you were eating out of my hand." Sakura felt tears come to her eyes. Her lips trembled at his words, her mouth opened but no words came out. She saw Ceroberus come out from the dark as well.

"You call yourself a cardcaptor?" He told her. "You were never any good at being my master - in fact you were horrible. You don't deserve to be anywhere near the cards. How dare you think you are better than us, admit it, you only wanted the power." His words were stinging her. Then Eriol stepped out, a dark and angry look on his face.

"What are you even doing here, Kinomoto? We didn't want you here, why did you just stick yourself in our lives? Is that what you came to do? Ruin our lives, try and break up Meilin's and Syaoran's engagement?" he spat and he gave a little laugh. "Go back to where you came from; you were never wanted her in the first place." Next came Tomoyo, her usually friendly eyes now showed ice, anger and hatred.

"I left Tomeoda to get away from you. You were always miss poplar, all the guys wanted you; all the girls wanted to be you. I left hoping I'd never see you again and then you end up here! What are you trying to do, ruin my life?" Tears were threatening to spill over. She looked at all of the people in front of her.

"Get out of here, Kinomoto," Syaoran's voice rang. "You were never wanted. I wish I had never met you. It was the biggest mistake of my life and all I can say is thank goodness you're going to be gone from our lives." Sakura hung her head and tears spilled freely down her face, her breaths coming in shallow and quick. No, no, it can't be... it just - it can't... she thought, shaking her head trying to figure out what was going on. They'd never betray me like this. Or maybe - they are right, maybe I don't belong here and I don't deserve to be the cardcaptor. Agnes walked casually over to her again, shaking his head with a smile on his face.

"And you call them friends?" he asked doubtingly. Sakura remembered what each one of her friends had said before they split up.

"I love you, Sakura. Remember that, ok?" they told her. "I'll never forget," she promised them back.

She raised her head, tears still glistening on her face - but her face held a smile that shone so bright, which confused him.

"They're not my friends," she told him simply and he stared at her angrily. "They aren't my friends, I know my friends. They were always there for me and kept me going when I was down; they would never hurt me, they care too much. So no matter how real you try to make these people in front of me seem, I know my real friends. They love me and I love them, and you can never take that away from me." He glared at her, she could feel the heat fuming off of him.

"Oh, you think you're smart, huh?" he asked. She smiled once again at him.

"That's the thing Agnes, I am smart," she told him and without blinking, she muttered something and the chains that were holding her hands up dissolved into the air and she looked at him, his face full of surprise.

"How - where did you learn to do that?" He asked, his voice in disbelief. Then he quickly regained his composure. He straightened up and looked at her. "Well then, you chose the hard way. Now, Sakura - if you think you're so smart, you have to make a very important decision." He told her as she stared at him wondering what was going to happen next. He walked over to one side of the room, which was darker than other areas. "Let's see, behind curtain number one is..." the darkness cleared up and Sakura gasped. All of her friends were tied up and were hanging from ropes, and she couldn't even get to them because they were surrounded by something that seemed to be made up of glass and plastic. "If they fall - they die. I don't think you want to know what's at the bottom of that." Agnes said smugly.

Sakura glared angrily at him. "Let them go Agnes, you know it's me you want. You've always wanted me, since the beginning. You sensed my powers and that's why you dated me. When you pushed me off your balcony, you knew I would end up here. This is between you and me, leave them out of it." She told him, trying to control her anger.

"You amaze me," he sounded amused, "I mean, I always knew you were smart Sakura, but you've blown me away." He took a step forward, a crazy look in his eyes. "Listen to me Sakura, say you'll be mine. We'll be the most powerful people in all of the kingdoms, we'll rule over all these people. We'll be happy together, you'll get everything you want."

Sakura meanwhile had run over to her friends and searched for a way to get them out, but couldn't find one. She pressed her fingers hard against the plastic/glass substance that surrounded her friends. They were looking at her, but her eyes were locked with Syaoran's. His eyes didn't show anything, they were just plain wanting to see if she would accept his offer. She saw the sadness in his eyes and she smiled. "I love you," she mouthed silently to him and she saw a flicker of emotion run across his face. With her eyes never leaving Syaoran's, she spoke to Agnes."I will if you can grant me these three things. Can you give me my brother and my father?" she asked him, not turning around. Agnes looked at her.

"Of course, that's no problem." He answered.

"Will you make sure that my friends are safe and are living well?" she asked him again. Yet again he answered that it wouldn't be a problem and he waited for what her third request would be. But she remained silent for a while.

"Can you give me my mother?" she asked him quietly, this time turning around to face him. His face went blank.

"You know that there's now possible way to bring a person back from the dead, Sakura," he told her and she nodded at him in agreement.

"Then you know that there's no way I'll ever accept your offer." She replied to him and knew he was about to go over the top.

"That's it! I gave you a chance, but you refused! Now hand over your Sakura cards or your friends will die." He told her, his voice poisonous. Sakura looked over at her friends, and they were clearly trying to tell her to keep the cards. She looked down; confused she didn't know what to do. Then she looked up; determination filled her in her eyes.

"Both," she said, leaving him confused. "If you kill my friends, then the cards and myself will follow them which means you have no power at all. All this time you've spent will have gone to waste." He stared at her, his eyes going wide.

"No! You little -" He yelled and he attacked her with his magic. She managed to defend herself for the first few times and attacked him but he defended against her as well. Then he saw an opening and he shot a power ball at her and she flew and crashed against the wall. She struggled to sit up and he cowered over her. He picked up the cards, which was in her case. He put a spell on her so that she wouldn't move to try and get the cards. He laughed evilly as he held the cards in his hand. "Finally! I finally have all the power!"

Suddenly all the cards shot out of the case and around him, just as they had done before when Sakura made them her new master. Tears came to her eyes and she wondered if they would just so easily accept a new master. But instead, each card began shining brightly and their light seemed to go directly above Agnes. Sakura covered her eyes and then when she looked again, she gasped.

Standing in front of her was Nadeshiko Kinomoto, light flowing off of her making her seem like an angel. "Mom?" Sakura asked in a weak voice as millions of emotions rushed through her. Her mother smiled at her and reached out and put her hand to her daughter's face.

"My, look at how much you've grown," Nadeshiko said. Sakura felt tears come to her eyes again. "You have done a good thing, Sakura. Never once did I doubt you, I always knew you would make the right decision. Instead of choosing greed, you chose your friends. And instead of having to choose between your Sakura cards and your friends - you chose both. I'm so proud of you."

"Mom, what - how?" Sakura tried to make sense out of what was going on. "My cards, my friends." She finally managed out. Nadeshiko smiled.

"Your friends are right here," she said and her friends were suddenly beside her, lying unconscious on the ground except for Syaoran who rubbed his head. Syaoran saw Sakura and immediately got up and grabbed her in a hug and she hugged him back, then he realized Nadeshiko. He bowed and opened his mouth but she cut him off. "That is all right, I know who you are. I know that you care greatly for my daughter and that she cares greatly for you. The time will come when you have to choose Sakura, choose wisely." Sakura and Syaoran exchanged confused looks and wondered what she was talking about, and Nadeshiko just laughed. "Do not worry now, the time will come."

"My cards?" Sakura asked uncertainly, more afraid than anything, and once again Nadeshiko smiled.

"Your cards will never betray you, Sakura. They have chosen you as their master, nothing is going to change that. When Agnes took hold of them, they knew he wanted to use them for bad and that he wasn't their rightful owner. That's why they went against him and called on me for help." She explained. Sakura nodded and was about to ask about Agnes but didn't need to. "Not to worry about him. I will take care of him." She turned around and Agnes stood there in fear. She whispered words that neither Syaoran or Sakura could understand, then Agnes let out a deafening scream and he disappeared into thin air.

Nadeshiko returned to her daughter. "I must go back now," she told her and Sakura hugged her mother tightly. "I know you don't want me to, but I must. Tell your father and your brother that I love them and I am always with them - just as I will always love you and always be with you." Nadeshiko kissed Sakura's forehead and moved away. Another blinding light spread throughout the entire place and when Sakura was able to open her eyes again, her mother was not there, but her cards were in their case floating in front of her.

She took hold of it and hugged it. She turned around to find Syaoran looking at her. She walked up to him and they embraced when they felt the ground shake. She looked at him in fear. "It's going to collapse!" she yelled and looked over at Tomoyo, Eriol, Ceroberus and Meilin who were now only starting to get up. She rushed over to them. "Come on, we gotta get out of here!" she yelled and Syaoran and herself managed to help the others up.

They all ran towards the front of the castle where they had entered, and only when they were out did they realize that Eriol wasn't with them. Tomoyo started to get hysterical on them. "Eriol! Where's Eriol?" she screamed and tried to make a mad dash towards the castle, but Sakura and Meilin held onto her, struggling to keep her in one place. Tomoyo sank to her knees, tears cascading down her pretty face. "I can't live without him Sakura, I can't!" she sobbed onto her friend's shoulder. Sakura felt tears run down her face when the castle fell to the ground, a wave of dust and dark cloud flowing over them. Tomoyo's sobs were the only sound heard afterwards, clinging to her best friend. Sakura looked up at Syaoran and then looked away, she knew exactly what it felt like.

Meilin stood there, anger rushing through her veins. "It's not fair, it's just not fair!" She whispered furiously to herself, feeling tears press on but tried to make them go away. She thought she had lost Syaoran at one point, and now - she had lost Eriol, one of her best friends? She ran up closer to the castle and heard Syaoran calling after her but she ignored him. She stopped just before getting there and yelled at the top of her lungs, "I hate you Eriol! I hate you, I hate you, I hate you!"

"Really? That'd be quite a shame, may I ask why?" A voice said hoarsely. Meilin's eyes widened afraid that the dust had gotten into her head and made her insane. She saw a figure walk up out of the dust, coughing. To her surprise and relief, Eriol came walking out of the shadows covered in dust making him look grey and was holding onto something rather large. "Do you think I'd honestly leave that horrible place without getting what we came for?" He asked. Meilin understood, he had gone back to get the mirror that Sakura needed to get home.

He reached Meilin and she still stood frozen, and Eriol chuckled before waving a hand in front of her face. She caught his hand, a fierce look on her face and fire in her eyes. "If you so much as ever think about doing something like that again, I will personally kill you despite the fact that my best friend loves you," she told him firmly. Eriol's eyes raised in surprise and then Meilin put her arms around his neck in a hug which surprised him even more. Tears fell from her eyes. "Tomoyo's a mess, you should go and let everyone know you're ok." She moved away and Eriol smiled at her and she returned it before taking the mirror from him.

They walked back and Eriol's heart broke at what he saw. Syaoran stood in the other direction away from him, and Tomoyo was on the ground crying on Sakura. Sakura as well had her back towards him, so when they got close enough, Tomoyo looked up. "Eriol?" she whispered questioningly. She moved away from Sakura in a state of shock, then ran straight to him only to jump on him, wrapping her legs around him, still crying. Eriol wrapped his arms around her, holding her tightly. "Why? Why'd you scare me like that?" She whispered to him, hot tears falling.

"I'm sorry love, it won't happen again, I promise you," he murmured to her, taking in the smell of her hair. "Uh Tomoyo, you're going to be all covered in dust," he mentioned to her but the thought never occurred to her. She moved away so she could see his face, she stared into his eyes and kissed him. "I guess you don't care," Eriol managed to get in between kisses, making her laugh.

Sakura and Syaoran saw the happy couple and this time it was tears of joy that fell from Sakura's face. She suddenly felt two strong arms wrap around her waist and closed her eyes, letting herself relax on the body behind her. "Is it over?" she asked, too scared to hope.

"Yes, it's all over," Syaoran told her, turning her around. "You were brave in there," he told her and she blushed, trying to shrug it off. "No I'm serious, and your mother is extremely beautiful... not more beautiful than you of course, but she's there right next to you on my rank." Sakura smiled, still blushing.

"Flattery won't get you anywhere Syaoran," she told him and he arched an eyebrow.

"Oh really?" He said before kissing her. "I love you," he whispered kissing her again. "How about now?" He asked when he moved away and she laughed, nodding. Tomoyo and Eriol, Meilin and Kero joined them and Syaoran looked away sensing the evil look in Eriol's eye, and Sakura just smiled at everyone, relieved that all her friends were safe.

"Let's go home now ok?" she said, exhausted and tired. Her friends nodded in agreement and started on their long journey home.

They were now at the Li castle staying in their original rooms. They had returned back to the castle to have an incredibly long lecture from Syaoran's mother, but in the end she let them go with no punishment. Sakura of course was finally able to relax. She went touring the castle, because the last time she was here she didn't really get a chance to look around.

She spent almost all her time with Syaoran who took her to the market place, buying her little things. One night he had bought her a necklace with a single cherry blossom pendant. "Oh Syaoran," she whispered, completely taken back by the entire thing. She had no idea he was going to get her anything; it wasn't even a special occasion. "It's absolutely beautiful."

"Only the best for my cherry blossom," he told her, making her smile. "I love you." He told her then kissed her. She had never felt more at peace or possibly happier.

"Sakura?" Tomoyo and Meilin knocked on her door and she looked up from where she was making up her bed. "Do you mind if we come in?" Sakura shook her head and smiled at her friends. Tomoyo and Meilin looked worried so Sakura stopped moving and stood still, looking at her friends.

"Is something wrong?" she asked them as they exchanged worried looks. "Come on you guys, you can tell me."

"Well, now that you have the Mirror of Malorn, does that mean you're going to go back?" Meilin asked and Sakura stood frozen for a moment. She had forgotten about that, the real main reason for them going on their journey. She sat down on her bed, her thoughts mixed into one.

"This is what mother meant by choosing," she whispered to herself.

"What?" Tomoyo asked, wondering if Sakura was ok. Sakura shook her head and smiled. "Are you ok?" Sakura nodded.

"I don't know what to do," she told them. "I love it here.this is where I was born and where I was suppose to live, plus I have you guys here."

"You also have Syaoran here," Meilin added in and Sakura felt her decision was made even harder.

"But I also have my dad and my brother at home. I could never live without them." She said as well. All three girls thought about it for a minute.

"You've managed to live this far without your dad and your brother," Tomoyo stated but Sakura shook her head.

"I don't see why you can't just go back and bring them here with you like what Tomoyo did," Meilin suggested. Sakura thought about it for a minute, then sighed and shrugged at the same time.

"I don't know, maybe they wouldn't want to," Sakura said. "I'll give it till the end of the week," she concluded, hoping that she would have enough time to make the right decision.

Syaoran walked towards the garden and saw his angel sitting on the swing by a tree. She always looks more beautiful each day, he thought smiling. He walked up to her and she smiled almost immediately seeing him; she moved over on the large swing so he could sit with her. He sat next to her and put his arms around her, and she let her head rest on his shoulder.

"What's wrong Sakura?" He asked her calmly and he heard her sigh.

"I don't know what to do Syaoran," she told him, her voice cracking. He lifted her chin up so he could see her face properly only to see tears in her emerald eyes. "It's just that, now that we have the Mirror back, I don't know if I want to go back or not." She explained to him and he nodded in understanding.

"I see," he told her. "Listen to me Sakura, do what your heart tells you to do. I know you need to live with your father and your brother so if you feel you need to go, then go ahead." There, he had finally said it. He knew he had to, although he wanted her to stay with him, he knew he would do whatever it takes to make her happy. "I love you Sakura, I always will, nothing will ever change that. But if you need to go back, you don't have to worry about us, we'll be ok. We'll miss you, I'm not going to lie about it, but once you're happy that's all that matters."

Sakura looked down, she didn't expect to hear that from him. Part of her was relieved to know that he understood and that he cared so much... but another part of her ached. She had wanted him to tell her, to beg her to stay, that he couldn't live without her. She wasn't sure she could live without him... but if he thinks it might be best for her to go back to her family, then perhaps she should. She looked back at him, smiling. "I love you Syaoran," she whispered before resting her head on his shoulder like before. He kissed her forehead and she closed her eyes, falling into a peaceful sleep.

Sakura stood in front of the mirror of Malorn with her friends behind her. She had made up her mind, she would be going back. She doubted her family would even believe her if she told them that. Everyone's faces showed sad expressions and all of them made Sakura want to cry. She walked up to Meilin first.

"Don't forget me!" Meilin stated and hugged Sakura. Sakura hugged her back and smiled sadly at her.

"Oh Meilin, I wouldn't dare! I know you'd kill me if I ever did," Sakura told her, making Meilin smile. Next Sakura turned to Kero, then grabbed him and almost choked him to death. Syaoran, who was watching, smiled and decided it was too precious of a moment to make faces at the little flurry fluff ball.

"Sakura.air." he tried to say, then she let go, turning crimson.

"Gomen ne," she apologized. "I love you Kero, I don't know what I would have done without you." Kero smiled at her, tears threatening to spill.

"Love you too kid," was all he said before moving aside.

Then was Eriol with his blue sapphire eyes sad. They hugged one another.

"Take care of yourself, my little green-eyed cherry blossom," he told her and she smiled.

"I will, and take good care of Tomoyo for me, ok?" He nodded and then came Tomoyo, whose face looked absolutely tormented. Both girls hugged each other tightly, tears silently falling for both of them, neither one of them wanting to let go. Finally they did and Tomoyo quickly wiped her tears away but Sakura didn't even bother, she knew more were going to fall - the worst was yet to come.

"You'll always be my best friend," Sakura told her and Tomoyo tried to smile.

"And you'll always be mine," she whispered. "Don't forget me."

"Not ever," Sakura replied then leaned in close. "Take care of him for me, please." Sakura begged her, and Tomoyo nodded, knowing whom she was talking about. Then the toughest part came when she stood in front of Syaoran, his face bearing the most pain imaginable. He wiped away her tears and she flung on him, more tears escaping her face. She finally pulled back and wiped her tears away. He played with her hair, avoiding her eyes.

"Syaoran?" she whispered, her voice incredibly soft and full of pain. He looked at her and cursed her emerald eyes. "Please don't forget me," she said looking down. He smiled just for her.

"That would be impossible for me to do," he told her and he kissed her. This time there wasn't any Tomoyo yelling "kawaii" or Kero threatening Syaoran. She pulled away knowing she had to leave now or she'd never make it out. She stood in front of the mirror and looked back one more time. "I'm going to miss all of you so very much; I love you each and every one of you," she told them as they replied the same. She waved and walked through the mirror with her eyes closed, tears silently falling and her heart aching. She opened her eyes to find herself back in her house and she smiled when she felt the familiarity of it.

As if in on cue, two very tired adults walked through the door and stopped in their tracks when they saw Sakura. "Hi daddy, hi Touya," she said as tears streamed down her face... she didn't know if they were tears of happiness or tears of sadness, perhaps they were both.

AN: So... what'd you think? Come on, you gotta review and tell me what you think about this chapter. I know everything was all rushed and stuff, but I wanted to get a lot done cause I don't have that much time to write nowadays... darn school... but anyhow, please review... thanks!


	15. Loving You Always and Forever

AN: Hey everyone! Oh. My. Gosh. I have over 80 reviews... do you how incredibly crazy that is? I never expected to get more than 10 to be perfectly honest with you. You guys really like this story this much? Awwwww, you have no idea how flattered I am, I'm literally sitting here with my mouth open, shaking my head in disbelief. Wow.

Oh, and I'm quite sure Syaoran wouldn't mind going back with Sakura, he kinda has to stay there and rule an entire country/empire/whatever you want to call it. And nope, the last chapter wasn't the last chapter, although sad to say this is the last chapter. I kinda don't want it to end, I've liked this but oh well... life must go on, and so must the story.

My goodness, you know, I never thought I'd get so many reviews... see what my original plan was - I was going to thank everyone individually for reviewing but I have so many reviews and so many people... But I do appreciate every single review I've gotten from everyone; I thank you from the bottom of my heart. Now, I think you'd much prefer if I stopped all the "thank you, thank you" business and get down to the story correct? So, here you go.

Always & Forever

Loving You Always and Forever

"Hi daddy, hi Touya," she said as the two people rushed to her, squeezing the life out of her in their bear sized hugs. She felt tears fall down as she hugged them back, not believing they were with her. "I'm so sorry, so sorry," she whispered to them, her voice shaky from all the emotion that had its sudden outburst. Her father moved back and looked at her, his face streaked with tears as well; he stroked her hair lovingly.

"Where have you been, Sakura? We were both so worried," her father said. Sakura apologized to them once again, but this time Touya put a hand over her mouth and shook his head. Sakura felt her heart break at the sight of her big brother, who was tried and looked pale and incredibly skinny. She nodded, then took both of their hands, leading them to the living room.

"Sit down, both of you - it's a really long story." She said taking in a deep breath to begin. She told them everything, how she got there, how Agnes had planned everything from the start, meeting new and old friends, her encounter with ghosts. It was especially hard for her whenever she mentioned Syaoran's name; and struggled when she got to the part where they confessed they were in love with one another. Touya and Fujitaka exchanged glances before letting her continue. When Sakura got to the part about her mother, her father and her brother fought back tears.

A few hours later she finished and looked at their faces. She leaned back against her couch and tears threatened to spill again, but they didn't get the chance to because she fell asleep instantly. Touya picked her up and carried her to her room, placing her gently on the bed. He stood there, staring for a second, then pulled the chair and placed it in front of her bed and sat there, watching her sleep. He knew his sister well enough to know that she was hurting, but she wouldn't leave them. He stayed like that all night, protecting Sakura as she slept.

Their father came upstairs after a while to see what was taking so long. He saw Touya and walked quietly in, and put a hand on his shoulder. Sakura's disappearance had been horrible and took a lot out of them, now she was back home with them, unharmed in any way. But although she was there with them, her heart was elsewhere. "Maybe we should go back with her," Touya suggested to his father, not looking away from his sister. There was no reply, and Touya didn't expect one, but what he did get was only a sigh.

"Let's wait and see how things go," was the only reply received. Touya nodded his head slowly. He hoped Sakura would be able to live with them, and that things would go back to normal, but he highly doubted that.

Sakura arose in the morning with sunlight warming her face. She kept her eyes closed as she stretched in her bed, smiling. That was when she remembered that she actually was in her bed, at home. She opened her eyes and saw her room exactly the way she left it, with no dust on it either. They must have kept it clean for me , she thought as she looked around. Her gaze stopped on her brother, who had fallen asleep in the chair. It as actually quite funny, he was sitting on the chair with his head resting on his hand. Sakura giggled and when she did, Touya's eyes opened. He squinted for a moment then yawned. Sakura got out of bed, walked over to him, as he stared at her, smiling crookedly. She kissed his forehead, surprising him. "Go back to sleep, I'm not going anywhere, I promise."

The next few weeks passed by in a blur for Sakura. She felt that whatever she was doing, she didn't do it whole-heartedly. Everyone was so happy to see her back, and she too was overjoyed to see them, but the pain in her heart didn't go away. She walked around depressed and sulking by herself as often as she could, missing Syaoran and her friends more than ever. She certainly didn't want anybody to worry about her, not after they had spent all that other time worrying. She wanted them to be happy, and it wasn't that she was unhappy, she felt as if part of her had died. The sparks in her eyes were no longer there, and her smile wasn't as bright and cheerful as before.

Although she tried to hide her feelings around her family, they knew exactly what was going on. Often when she'd go walking or up to her room, her father and her brother saw clearly that she was missing her friends. They thought maybe with enough time, she could forget the other world, but they both knew that it would be impossible for her to do that. This especially bothered Touya, he often heard her crying at night till she fell asleep, but she kept on her act for the sake of them. His happiness was in that of Sakura's, and he was willing to go back to wherever it is she came from, if only to see her smile a true smile, with all her heart. But it was his father he was uncertain about; only he could make that decision.

Then one day the doorbell rang and she suddenly heard Touya yelling at the top of his lungs. She ran downstairs to see what the big fuss was all about. "Why the hell do you want to see her? I've never seen you around, how do I know you're not just sick hentai kid?" Touya raged. There was no reply from the person at the door, just silence. Sakura sighed and pushed Touya out of the way, immediately feeling sympathy towards the poor person.

"Touya, I told you not to be rude to my friends," she scolded him then she turned to see who was at the door and froze. Her heart seemed to be beating so fast and so hard; she couldn't believe what she was seeing. Maybe this was another dream, yes - that had to be it, she was just dreaming. Was it possible that this guy standing in front of her house had a twin, there's no way that's possible. The person in front of her door had brown messy hair; liquid amber eyes and was giving his death glare to Touya.

"Syaoran?" she whispered, thinking that she was most definitely dreaming by now. He stopped glaring at Touya and when his eyes fell on Sakura, they softened almost immediately and he smiled. He smiled only for her, and that was when she knew she wasn't dreaming. "Syaoran!" she yelled and hugged him, praying she'd never have to let go of him. He hugged her back, not ever wanting to let go either.

"Hey you gaki! Get your hands off my sister!" Touya yelled at them. Touya knew who it was before Sakura had even whispered his name, and although he loved his sister, he still couldn't help being just a bit over protective. But Sakura, not knowing about this, turned around and looked at him, trying not to glare at her older brother. Then again she was so happy that Syaoran was here with her.

"Touya!" she told him, her voice getting dangerous and he stopped. He turned around and she knew he went to call their dad. "Come on in," she said, grabbing hold of his hand and dragging him inside. She brought him into the living and sat down on the couch. "Tell me everything!" she said and he laughed, then she pouted. "Stop laughing at me!"

"No pillow this time, huh?" he commented and she just stuck out her tongue at him, making him laugh more before he put his arms around her. She closed her eyes, enjoying every moment. "Everyone is ok, I mean they're still sad about you not being there anymore, but they're getting by. Tomoyo misses you a lot though, more than the others." He told her and she grew silent.

"What about you?" She asked quietly and he looked around her house instead of looking at her. "Syaoran," she said when she heard no answer, moving away to look at his face, only then did he look at her. She looked in his eyes and knew he didn't have to say anything. She hugged him again, taking him his scent of autumn before moving back. "I've missed you too," she told him and before he could say anything, she kissed him.

"Um, should I come back later?" Fujitaka asked interrupting them. They quickly stood up very red, and instead of trying to hide his smile, he smiled very brightly. So this was the guy who had stolen his daughter's heart. This was a rather interesting way of meeting him, but nonetheless, his daughter was smiling again and it was because of this man.

"Uh, dad, this is -," she started but knew she didn't need to continue. She had talked on countless occasions about Syaoran. Syaoran bowed, still red resisting the urge to laugh nervously. This wasn't exactly how he had wanted to meet Sakura's dad... so much for a good first impression , he thought.

"Nice to meet you sir," Syaoran said, feeling himself starting to sweat. He knew he might have trouble with Touya, Sakura's brother, but he definitely didn't want any trouble with her father. He seemed like a nice enough guy, although he still didn't want to take any chances, he made sure he wasn't standing too close to Sakura. After being away from her for such a long time, it took every bit of strength not to hold her and kiss her that very second.

"And it's nice to finally meet you, Syaoran," he replied. Things went good after that except for the fact Syaoran and Touya kept glaring at each other. They spent the entire day in the living room talking; Syaoran wanted to know as much about Sakura's family as possible. At the end of the day, Syaoran stood up and Sakura looked at him confused.

"It was really nice meeting you, but I'm afraid I have to leave now," he said, sadness obvious in his voice. Sakura felt her heart break into tiny little pieces all over again, she hadn't even thought about that. He bowed to both her dad and her brother and made his way to the door, Sakura following behind.

"I'll walk you to the park," she said, knowing that's probably where he came from. He nodded at her, and then bowed once more towards her family as he stepped out of their house. He looked back once more and saw her dad and her brother there, watching them go and he smiled. Fujitaka smiled back, while Touya growled. They both walked silently, hand in hand to his destination. When they reached where he was supposed to leave, he stopped and let go of her hand.

"You have a really nice family, Sakura," he told her, avoiding looking at her again. Neither one of them said anything for a while then Sakura put her arms around him and let her head rest on his shoulder, blinking back the hot salty tears that threatened to fall.

"Yeah, and they like you too," she told him sadly. "Do you have to leave, Syaoran?" she asked him and he sighed. He knew that when he decided to come, that leaving would be just as hard as the first time, if not harder. He now cursed himself for hurting her like this, but he didn't regret coming to see her - as selfish as the thought may seem.

"Yes, I do," he said, his voice full of regret. "Do you have to stay?" he asked her this time and she honestly thought about it, not for the first time though. She looked at him and he gave her a small sad smile. "Ashiteru my cherry blossom," he whispered to her.

"Ashiteru my little wolf," she whispered back. He cupped her face, and got lost in her deep emerald eyes, feeling a heavy lump rise in his throat. He kissed her and let go of her and walked through the portal. She felt the tears fall down again and scowled for letting herself be too soft. She walked back home slowly, thinking about the day. It was so much fun, her father really did like Syaoran, and they got along perfectly fine. If only they would come back with her then everything would be perfect.

The next couple of days Sakura had given up on trying to be happy for her family. They knew she was depressed as it was, so there was no point on pretending to smile and laugh. She knew it was wrong, but every night she wished on a star that she'd somehow get to be with Syaoran and all of her other friends again. But doubt had blinded all the hope that she had; she knew how likely something like that would happen and every night she would dream of Syaoran and herself being together. That only made things harder for her.

She was walking through the park and suddenly stopped at where the portal was supposed to be. She didn't know how long she stared at that one spot, debating on whether to just jump through it and into Syaoran's arms or not. When she finally realized what she had been thinking, guilt filed through her. She couldn't just leave her family here! She ran home, tears escaping and she slowed down only when she saw the door of her house. She opened the door and heard her dad calling her to the living room again.

She quickly dried her tears as she entered and saw that he and Touya had serious looks on their faces. She sat down and wondered what was going on, but asked no questions, she'd find out soon enough. "Sakura, we know that you have been miserable here and you're my daughter, I want to see you happy. When Syaoran came, you had such a happy look, a look I haven't seen in such a long time. That's why your brother and I have decided that you go back." Her father said, and Sakura just stared back at them, not understanding. "And we, will go with you. We know that is the reason why you chose to come back. So I suggest you go pack if you want to surprise your friends tonight."

Sakura still stared at them trying to comprehend everything that her father just said to her. She looked at their faces, and saw them smiling, even Touya was smiling at her. She stared now in disbelief and jumped up excitedly all of a sudden, yelling for joy. She hugged her father first and then her brother, showering them with thank you's and kisses and hugs. They laughed at her silly happiness, knowing they had done the right thing and watched her run upstairs to start packing all of her stuff.

Later that night she had everything all packed and so did her family. They left the house and waited for her outside. Sakura walked through the house; memories' coming back to her and felt tears come. She nearly laughed; she was going to miss something one way or the other, whether she decided to stay or go. She walked slowly out of the house and she took one more last look, feeling a bit of sadness wash over her.

Then she led her family to the portal and standing between the two of them, she grabbed a hold of their hand. She looked at them and they nodded, then they all stepped in and when Sakura opened her eyes, she found herself right back in Syaoran's room and a bright smile slowly crawled across her face. Her father and brother looked confused, but she led them to where her room was and they all got ready.

"I miss her," Tomoyo sighed as poked her food; she didn't know how many times she had said that. She had gotten so angry when she found out Syaoran was going to see Sakura and that she wouldn't be able to go. She threw such a fit; Eriol had to use a spell to keep her still from damaging any other furniture they had. She too, had cried almost every night since Sakura left; Sakura was - after all, her best friend.

Everyone eating dinner in the Li dining room was sad and depressed ever since Sakura had left. She had always brought a smile to everyone's faces and made the place happier. Eriol put his had on top of hers and she turned to look at him, her face still sad. He smiled and she smiled back, no matter how sad she was, she still couldn't help but smile back at Eriol.

"I know you do, we all do," he told her and she gave him another sad smile before returning to poke her food. Eriol rolled his eyes then picked up his fork, took some of her food and held it in front of her mouth as if feeding a baby. Tomoyo's eyes held a bit of amusement, and opened her mouth for him to feed her. A laugh erupted from her, and Eriol felt himself sigh in relief knowing she was laughing again. She quieted down and leaned her head against him, not caring if everyone saw.

"I just want to see her again," she said breaking the quietness that surrounded them and Eriol kissed her forehead, telling her that it was ok. Suddenly the entire place turned dark, and then a light pink shade filled the room. Everyone looked around wondering what was going on and suddenly through the doors. Eriol shook his head at himself, wondering how he could have missed her aura like that while Tomoyo's face brightened up.

Sakura came walking through with a huge smile on her face with her father and Touya behind her. "Miss me much?" she asked no one in particular as her friends ran up and hugged her one by one. Yelan walked up to Sakura and embraced her.

Syaoran, who had not moved from his seat when he saw Sakura walk through the doors, backed up just a bit when he saw his mother hug Sakura. Then the next thing Yelan did was she went on to start a conversation with Fujitaka. Syaoran just watched everything Sakura did, before slowly pushing his chair back and walking towards the woman he loved. Sakura on the other hand, hugged Tomoyo tightly and put something in her hand and when she saw what it was - she jumped up and down, screaming.

"Oh Sakura! I love you, I love you, I love you!" she said still jumping and showed everyone her new toy. "This is great, now I can really tape you and Syaoran together!" she exclaimed as Sakura wondered if getting her friend that video camera was such a good idea. She rolled her eyes, and that was when she saw Prince Yukito and walked up to him.

"Hello," she told him and he smiled gleefully at her.

"Sakura! You're back!" He said, glad she was here, and then surprised her by hugging her. She laughed and hugged back, nodding - or trying to.

"I was wondering if you could do me a favor, I was wondering if you wouldn't mind talking to that person over there," she said pointing to Touya. Yukito smiled at her and nodded. "You see, he's my brother and he doesn't know anyone here, so if perhaps you could talk to him..."

"Sure, no problem Sakura. Anything else I can do for you while you're at it?" He said cutting her off, and she thought for a moment, then shook her head.

"No, that's all. Arigatou Yuki," she told him, bowing and he walked over to where Touya was. Sakura watched as the two engaged in a conversation and smiled knowing that her brother wouldn't be lonely living here. She suddenly felt two hands cover her eyes and she smiled. She turned around although she didn't need to know who it was.

"Hey! That's cheating!" Syaoran said as she saw him. They didn't say anything, instead he took hold of her hand and they headed towards his garden. The sun was setting and they sat down against a Sakura tree together. For the longest time they didn't say anything to each other, he was just there holding her and Sakura was more than fine with that. "I'm happy you came back," he told her softly and she smiled.

"I'm happy I came back too," she commented. "Dad and Touya said they know I've been miserable and that I should come back and that they were coming too. It was great, I couldn't wait to see you all again." she said, not bothering to hide the excitement in her voice. Syaoran's arms tightened around her. "I couldn't live without you," she told him softly and he kissed her forehead.

"I couldn't live without you either, not when there are so many Sakura trees in my own garden," he said making her laugh. She looked at him and gave him a smile that showed pure love. "Sakura -," he started then paused. Sakura stared at him, smiling to encourage him to go on.

"Yes Syaoran?" She asked, hoping nothing was wrong, although right now at that exact moment, that idea seemed impossible. Syaoran gulped then made her stand up with him. She looked at him curiously, wondering what he wanted to talk to her about. He cleared his throat; he was never really very good at this.

"Sakura, you're the only girl that's ever made me feel this way. Since that day when you fell into my room, I had been trying to hide any feelings I had towards you. But then, the more I got to know you and spend more time with you, I fell deeper and deeper in love with you. You truly are an angel; I would die for you over and over again if only to keep you safe and see you smile. There isn't a second that goes by when I'm not thankful for you being in my life. I love you Sakura, more than I've loved anything before. I love you with all my heart and soul and everything that's in me and I can't live my life without you next to me. I love you always and forever," he said in the softest voice Sakura had ever heard. She felt tears come to her eyes and she gasped when she saw Syaoran go down on one knee, taking her hand and slipping a ring on her finger.

"Sakura, will you please do me the honor of being my wife?"

Sakura stood there, with one hand over her mouth in shock, her other hand being held by Syaoran's. Syaoran looked up at her, fear and doubt ripping him to shreds at that very second. He had originally planned on asking her to marry him before, but then when she decided to go back, he erased the thought. Now that he had her back, he didn't want to lose her ever again. He waited patiently although every second silently killed him.

Sakura looked at him, then at her ring, still not moving. The ring was exquisite; shaped like a cherry blossom, a rather large diamond in the middle of the flower was surrounded tiny little pink zycons and green emeralds in the shape of the petals and little leaves. She was speechless; she had no idea how to react of what to say. She looked at Syaoran, seeing his eyes filled with hope and reflecting his love for her. She smiled shakily as she said in a voice a little higher than a whisper, "Yes."

Syaoran stared at her for a moment, not being able to take in what she said. He looked away, making sure he understood her correctly. Maybe he didn't hear her right, or maybe because he wanted her to say yes so badly he imagined it. He looked up at her and when he saw her eyes shining bright with tears, the smile that made her glow and he saw her nod. He ran his hand through his hair, smiling. Yes, she had said yes! She wanted to marry him, she said yes!

Sakura giggled at the look on his face, the disbelief then the joy. He stood up and lifted her in the air, both of them laughing in complete happiness. He spun her around and then placed her down, hugging her and burying his face in her neck taking in her scent. They were both excited and were laughing and finally somehow they both managed to calm down a bit, or at least stop the laughing. Syaoran looked at his soon to be wife, and she smiled at him.

"I would be honored to be your wife," she whispered to him, a tear sliding down her cheek. He raised his hand and wiped it away as she smiled. "Ashiteru Syaoran," she said, this time not sad - but smiling.

"Ashiteru Sakura," he said, and this was by far his biggest and cutest smile.

"How kawaii!" Tomoyo whispered as she taped the two lovebirds. She couldn't believe her luck; not only did Sakura get her a video camera, but also she managed to get Syaoran proposing to Sakura on tape. Suddenly Eriol pushed the video camera down and she looked at him. "What?" she asked, wanting to know why he was stopping her from taping them?

"Nothing," he said and kissed her before she could say anything else. When he moved away, she was a little shocked and pleased. "Marry me," he whispered in a husky voice, close to her face. Tomoyo held her breath, thinking she heard wrong. "I may not have the words to describe how much you mean to me, hell, I don't even think there are any words to express how much I love you and care for you. But I do know that I can't live my life without you, you are my everything Tomoyo. Without you, there is no me, and without you, there is no life. Say you'll marry me, love, be my wife."

Eriol stared into her eyes and before he knew it, she had practically jumped on him and kissed him. He laughed and heard her laugh too. "I'll take that as a yes," he said before kissing her again.

Tomoyo pulled away and then with her head faced towards the sky and her arms pumped up in the air she yelled, "Yes! Yes Eriol Hiiragizawa, I'll be your wife!" She continued to laugh as Eriol hugged her, lifting her feet off the ground. When she moved away to see his face, trying to control her breathing, she moved his bangs away from over his eyes. "Yes," She whispered to him. "More than anything in the world, I want to be your wife." She told him, smiling, tears of joy also present on her face. Eriol smiled at her then kissed her once more.

Syaoran and Sakura noticed and heard (AN: yet again might I add) that same noise they heard in the woods and smiled at each other. But instead of scaring the couple again, they decided to leave them be. They were too happy in their own little world to go scare off their best friends. Sakura smiled happily as she closed her eyes, leaning on Syaoran. She was finally happy after all this time; she was back to a place where she called home, she had her family with her, her friends surrounded her, and she was going to marry the man she loved. She looked up into his amber eyes; and Syaoran pulled Sakura into a kiss and the rest of the world disappeared except for the soft cherry blossoms falling all around them.

AN: So... what do you think? Well? Well? Well? Wow, I must say I'm quite pleased with myself for getting this done, especially with all the romance. Jeez, you should have seen the first time I tried to write a romance story but that's another subject. Actually – I had lots of help writing this – I would never be able to write this on my own… too much romance! Tell me what you think please, I went and hurried to put this up for you guys since I was getting so many great reviews. Let me know if there was too much fluff, not enough, sequel or no sequel... I need your ideas people. It's kinda sad actually, that I've finished this... hmm... oh well, don't forget to check out my new fanfic I have up although I must admit it isn't the greatest, check it out sometime ok? Thanks so much to everyone who reviewed, once again; it's greatly appreciated. Hope you're happy with this story. Bye!


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